


Silver Beginning

by Skyven



Series: Guardian Rangers [1]
Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2018-10-18 23:52:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 83,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10627806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyven/pseuds/Skyven
Summary: The Earthen Rangers are not the only team out there. A chain of events sets the path to the reforming of one such team and the redemption of one of its members.





	1. Down the Rabbit's Hole

**Author's Note:**

> This work was initially published on fanfic.net, and after some coaxing from a friend, I have decided to place the fanfic here as well as I'm rewriting it. Looking forward for some reviews. =)

It was a warm Californian day in Angel Grove and the vast majority of the students of Angel Grove High had just finished their classes and emptied the halls, eager to pursue their free time as they saw fit. A young man walked across the now desert halls of ground floor of AGH towards the gym area, rows of lockers giving way to trophy cases embedded into walls, proudly showing off the school’s sports tradition, with the tiger motif proudly displayed at the back of every case. He was well built, wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans, his physique showcasing a lifetime of sports activity and martial arts involvement. He tentatively looked around the connecting halls as he approached the main staircase leading to the upper floor, obviously looking for someone. The sound of tapping brought his attention to another young man wearing a green sleeveless shirt and black pants, his backpack slung casually over his shoulder. He was leaning almost out of sight in the corridor that led to the changing rooms, a frown of bored impatience on his face.

"Tommy! Hey!", the youth in red called, relieved. Initially, he hadn’t been sure if the other teen would’ve accepted an offer to hang out, but now he felt uneasy that he had to reschedule due to other commitments.

"Hello Jason.", Tommy answered tersely, his eyes fixed intently on the red-clad teen. Jason was surprised to notice the complete lack of enthusiasm on Tommy’s part: their first meeting, prior to a competition, had been the complete opposite of this one.

"I'm sorry, just dropped by to let you know I can’t spar today. Urgent call from family.", Jason said apologetically, looking at Tommy for any signs of a reaction. The lie he just told was ashen in his mouth, but it was needed. He had more pressing problems to deal with.

"I see.", Tommy responded evenly, tilting his head ever so slightly. The lack of any emphatic reaction surprised Jason even further.

"Are you up for a reschedule? Tomorrow maybe?", Jason suggested, wondering quietly why the other teen was so tense. Had the school bullies been giving him a hard time? It was a nonsensical question, as Tommy clearly knew how to handle himself, but Jason knew a lot of his fellow jocks to often be very abrasive, especially to newcomers.

"Fine with me.", the answer came with a shrug.

" I'll see you tomorrow then.", Jason’s elation in his voice was genuine. At least it was one of the rare genuine things about him for the last week.

With that Jason turned his back on Tommy, not noticing a small tinge of emerald green flashing in his eyes and a circle shaped object slipping into his hand: a coin. As he started to walk away, Tommy turned the coin towards Jason, a green light beam shooting out of it and Jason disappeared in a brief flash of green particles that shimmered into nothingness in a matter of seconds. Tommy returned the coin into his backpack, looking left and right along the adjacent corridors, then slinging the backpack back on his shoulder and walking towards the front exit like nothing happened.

* * *

At the same time, at the upper floor of Angel Grove High, another youth just left the computer labs with his black backpack slung casually over his left shoulder. He was 6 feet tall and muscular built, dressed in a gray sleeveless shirt, black pants and black sneakers with a gray trim to them, and with a far more serious expression on his face than one would expect of an 18-year old. His almost jet black hair was crew cut and only a very faint trace of stubble on his chin indicated the formation of a goatee. As he passed along the tight corridors of the labs, the scant groups of people clustered around the upper floor lockers turned heads after him, some whispering to their friends while others just moving out of the way. He met the eyes of a few with a nod, traded a smile with the others, but was otherwise engrossed in his thoughts as he made his way to his locker. He stacked the books neatly inside the steel-enclosed space, locking it as he finished. It was a small ritual that marked the end of the school day.

He silently walked across the hall towards the staircase to the lower floor, eager to finally leave the school premises behind for the day. As he approached the stairs, he heard two voices talking downstairs that shook him out of his thoughts: one of them was more than familiar while the other he could not say he ever heard until now. Grinning, he quickened his pace to approach the stairs. Slowly leaning over the railing of the stairs, he watched as the two youths separated, but, while the one in red turned his back and was about to leave, the other one got some kind of coin out of the bag and the hall was briefly lit by green light as a beam connected between the coin and the teen in red. The older youth pulled up the stairs without making a sound as the one in green looked around himself, then leaned slowly back to watch him leave.

\- What on Earth has just happened? - the young man asked himself as he stood by the stairs waiting for a few minutes to pass so he could head to the lower floor without suspicion. His mind was reeling from the shock inflicted by the scene he just witnessed, and he tried frantically to look for an explanation for what happened.

Everything clicked in place at surprising speed. By now everyone knew of the battle between the Power Rangers and the alien invaders from space, and most recently, of the appearance of another Ranger who was intent on helping the aliens conquer the planet: the Green Ranger. And he just witnessed who the Green Ranger really was. He recognized the younger teen from a recent Karate Tournament in which his brother participated. Just one question remained to be answered. What did the Green Ranger want with his younger brother?

With that thought in mind, Kevin Lee Scott descended the stairs in a hurry and walked towards the exit of AGH, concern mixed with fury deeply showing in his face and replacing the expression of surprise and shock he had just a moment ago. He decided he'd get to the bottom of the matter with Tommy in earnest.

* * *

Zack sat at the usual table the Rangers sat at while in the Youth Center. He was looking around himself, waiting for Jason to show up, showing a forced smile at acquaintances that passed. An empty glass stood on the table in front of him, and he drummed his fingers onto the table to a beat in his head. While his acquaintances would think he was his usual easygoing self, a further look at him would show that he was recently a bit fatigued and worried. It was expected, since this young black teen was the Black Power Ranger, and recently in that role he had his hands full with the new Ranger on the block, an evil one on top of that. With the communication with Zordon disrupted and the Command Center in a disarray, the Rangers had to use everything they had left at their disposal to both get Zordon back and keep Rita and the Green Ranger at bay.

Looking at his left, he saw Trini and Billy enter the Youth Center, discussing something on their way to the table.

"Hey Billy, hey Trini.", he greeted the two, his features assuming the first genuine smile of the day.

"Salutations Zack", Billy replied, with a faint smile, drawing a bar stool closer and plopping onto it with exhaustion. The resident genius had pulled an overnighter, working to stabilize the teleportation system and helping purge Alpha 5 of the last vestiges of the viral code slipped into him by the Green Ranger.

"Hey Zack, what's going on?", Trini returned the greeting as she pulled up a chair as well and dropped her backpack under the table, for a change not bothering to pull her notebooks out.

"Nothing, just waiting on Jason and Kimberly to show up. Between our class assignments and the you-know-who, I don't know anymore what's worse.", Zack commented bitterly, tapping his fingers on the empty soda glass in front of him.

" I know what you mean. I've seen Kimberly on my way out from school and she told me she'd meet with Jason in front of the High School after she dropped her books home." Trini said with a drawn out sigh. The Yellow Ranger was worried about her friend: they had yet to find out the identity of the Green Ranger, and being separated left them potentially vulnerable. The thought of Kimberly or Jason alone and at Rita’s whim was a sobering thought.

" If I remember correctly, Jason had a scheduled meeting with Tommy prior to meeting us. They should be here soon enough." Billy pointed out, recalling the two teens talking the day prior: the newcomer had been giving all of them the cold shoulder aside Jason, with whom he seemed very keen to spar.

Zack looked unconvinced. "For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

Kimberly was pacing in front of the stairs leading to the Angel Grove High main entrance, where she agreed she'd meet with Jason as soon as he finished his sparring session with Tommy. She had gone to drop her school books home and then returned to the High School proper, figuring that by the time she'd done that, Jason would be done and waiting for her in front of the school gates. However that was not the case, and the more time passed, the more worried she became. Tommy had passed her by, rudely brushing aside her greeting as he made his way down across the street and out of her sight. She hadn’t been had the chance to ask about Jason’s whereabouts. A minute later she saw Kevin march out of the front gate, halting to a stop and looking around himself carefully.

"Kevin! Hey!", Kimberly shouted, waving frantically to get the older teen’s attention. Kevin seemed jolted out of whatever he was trying to focus on then turned and lightly descended the stairs to where Kimberly was standing, returning her wave.

"Hey Kim! What can I do for you?", he asked politely and with a forced smile, his eyes darting almost nervously around.

" I wanted to ask you if you have seen Jason after class. I was supposed to meet him here.", Kimberly said hopefully, knowing that if anyone almost always knew where Jason was, it was Kevin. The three years older teen was always the one to watch over her and Jason when they were kids, and had quickly developed a penchant for knowing where they'd be.

Kevin pretended to ponder the question. Knowing perfectly well what happened to Jason, Kevin had quite a conundrum. On one hand, seeing Kimberly’s worry written clearly on her face made him want to tell her, but on the other, he had no doubt that if any of the two sides came to know he knew about the Green Ranger’s identity, trouble would soon follow.

" No, I haven't seen him after class. Are you sure he hasn't just gone ahead and is waiting for you in the Youth Center?", the teen replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He had to pretend not to be unsettled by the disappointment on her face.

" You know that's so unlike Jason. He would not stand up on someone like that without a notice.", Kimberly remarked with a frown, as the initial disappointment passed. Something about the way Kevin acted unsettled her. The teen’s tension reminded her a lot of Jason’s when they were about to battle one of Rita’s monsters: he was wound up.

" Maybe he went there to work out with that new kid in your classes that I've heard so much about.", Kevin suggested tentatively, while his eyes went from Kimberly over to the street, and then further out, as if he was willing the street itself to give up the Green Ranger’s steps.

" Maybe you're right, Kevin. Thanks anyways.", Kimberly answered, sighing to herself. Maybe she was being just too worried after all. However, Tommy had just passed her by, and Jason was nowhere in sight.

" No problem, Kim. I'll see you later.", the older teen said with a smile as he reassuringly patted her back. The friendly gesture did little to bring her comfort.

With that, Kimberly turned and left for the Youth Center, while Kevin started running the moment she had left the line of sight. Basing himself on the direction where he’d seen Tommy walk off, his first guess was that the younger teen went to the park. He’d make sure he checked each of the usual hangouts before he’d call it a day. If he couldn’t find Tommy today, there’d be other times where he could catch the younger man unaware and other ways to confront him.

* * *

He wasn't wrong in coming to the park first and foremost. Kevin leaned into the shadow of a nearby tree, watching Tommy go through a familiar kata in the more secluded area of the park. The series of moves was familiar to him: it had been one he and his brother had often practiced. This version of the form was terse and forceful, as if its practitioner had a lot of anger that he tried not to show. He bristled inside at the thought of confronting Tommy about Jason’s disappearance and he was now just biding his time until he saw an opening in the kata the teen was performing.

As he saw Tommy start to turn his back on Kevin to execute a punch, Kevin sprung forward, catching Tommy's arm and wringing it behind. Tommy, caught by total surprise, couldn't do anything as his arm got twisted in a lock behind his back while at the same time he lost his footing to a sweep, unceremoniously falling face down into the grass. He felt a foot position itself on the back of his knee, applying just enough pressure to ensure he wouldn't move his legs without risking serious injury. All he could do was turn his head around to look at his attacker and was greeted by an older teen's blue eyes looking at him menacingly.

" What did you do to Jason?", Kevin asked harshly, his gaze passing critically over the downed teen and he started slowly applying pressure to his arm, leveraging it inches by inches to the breaking point. There would be no tapping out of this one.

" I don't know what you're talking about!", Tommy gritted between his teeth while he tried to move around to somehow ease the pain in his arm, but the more he moved, the more pressure was applied to his arm, sending jolts of pain through his limb as his nerves protested every move he made.

" Bullshit you don't!", Kevin growled at him, finally pushing the arm lock to what he felt was the limit. "I saw him disappearing out of the school corridor, and I bet that coin of yours has more tricks up its sleeve. Now spit it out or I am going to risk my good standing by sending you to the hospital, preferably in pieces!"

Tommy smirked more to himself than to Kevin. "Why would you like to know? What is the Red Ranger to you?"

Kevin stood dumbfounded for a moment. Red Ranger? Jason? The thought echoed in his mind like a gunshot. Regaining his composure, Kevin lifted his foot off Tommy's knee and let go of his arm. Instead he quickly turned Tommy over to face him while laying down, then lifted him up abruptly by the hem of the shirt. The cloth of the shirt strained under his grip, and would soon rip apart.

" If I find out even a scratch on Jason, you’ll answer to me. And there won't be any amount of power to save you if I decide to pay you back for what you’ve done to my brother.", he threatened, then dropped the younger teen on the ground as abruptly as he had yanked him upwards. " Remember I know who you are. Green Ranger. ", he growled, then turned around and started to leave.

Tommy shot him a mean glance while sitting up, rubbing his arm back to life while feeling returned to his aching body. " You chose the wrong person to threaten!", he yelled after the young man leaving, trying to put in some menace into it.

“ It’s not a threat.”, Kevin replied in an ice cold voice, not bothering to look back at Tommy. “ It’s a promise.”

* * *

Kevin strode quickly across the park grounds to a rocky outcropping by the lake, sat there and stared into the water for a moment, concerned thoughts crossing his mind as he clenched and unclenched his fists. His heart was still racing, but the initial unbidden urge to seriously harm the Ranger for kidnapping his brother vaned with the lessening of the adrenaline in his bloodstream and was getting fast replaced by a sense of worry. Kevin did not know where the Green Ranger took his brother, nor in what condition Jason was, and he started dreading the worst. He berated himself for acting impulsively as he leveled his head onto his hands, elbows resting on his knees, and in vain he tried to tell himself that he won’t let his emotions get the better of him ever again when Jason might pay the price for his error.


	2. Confrontations

Jason was taken aback when the corridors melted with the sky in front of his eyes as the teleportation beam took him away. The dirty meld of colors was then replaced with uniform darkness. The darkness finally cleared and he landed on his back in a medium sized octagonal room, his throat aching from the dry air of the place and his muscles protesting movement the moment he got up. He shifted around uneasily from where he stood, looking around himself as he tried to bury down the fear that was starting to rise within him. The mist that covered the floor like a blanket was reaching halfway to his knees and the walls were gray, with an octagonal window of a sort on each wall, crossed thickly with massive bars and giving insight into nothing but darkness dotted with faint specks of white. Caution soon replaced fear, and Jason looked around, feeling his way along the walls in hope of maybe finding a hidden switch that would open a passage out of the room. He was not sure in what kind of prison he was put, or how, but he noticed his morpher was missing when he perused his pockets and had a suspicion that he'll soon find out where he was.

* * *

In the Moon Palace, Rita Repulsa was watching the events on Earth and was furious. How could her Ranger be so careless as to let himself be discovered by another, yet powerless, human being? Tugging at the hem of her robes absentmindedly and pressing her fingers against her temple, she drew out a long sigh. Nothing ever went properly right. Her robes rustled faintly when she moved away from the balcony and into the spacious throne room, her shoes causing echoes on the obsidian floors.

She sent a mental summons to her Green Ranger, and then shrieked: "Goldar!"

The gold armor-clad alien stepped through the door archway of the Palace soon after the witch’s voice stopped resonating among the cold stone, with the Green Ranger appearing next to him and kneeling down in front of Rita. " Your command, my Empress?", Tommy addressed her, kneeling and eyes averted to the ground in revered respect. Goldar just gave a noncommittal grunt at this whelp thinking himself his better by addressing the witch first.

Rita swung her staff in an arc and forward, causing a small impact energy wave that knocked the Green Ranger down and slid him backwards into the room, then glared at the downed boy. " I could not believe you have let yourself be discovered by a normal human! What were you thinking?! “, she yelled at Tommy, while making Goldar wince at the sound of her voice. To the gold-clad alien warrior, it was a pleasant change that he wasn't at the end of the lecture for once.

Tommy slowly rose on his feet, looking at the floor, his fists clenching at the humiliation. " I did not know that he was standing anywhere in the corridor. He was not anywhere in my sight when I kidnapped the Red Ranger, I..."

"Enough! I do not want to hear any more excuses!", Rita cut him off abruptly, letting out a deep exasperated sigh. " Your negligence in this matter has cost you your identity. You will remedy that. Morph. Kill him. That should not be a problem.", she commanded, the last sentence delivered with a smirk. Her spell had brought out the worse things in the teen, and his overconfidence had finally caused a set-back. She should have taken matters in her own hands more closely, but she had enough problems just keeping him under her thumb. He pulled out his gold-rimmed morpher, called on its power and disappeared in a streak of green and black.

" What about me, my Empress?", Goldar questioned, his eyes still averted from the angry witch, but he kept his left hand on the pommel of his sword, ready at a command to spring into action.

" You will go to the Dark Dimension and give the Red Ranger a proper welcome.", she stated, walking over to the unoccupied throne and sitting down slowly. She watched the black-maned alien just nod.

Goldar smiled faintly as he vanished in a streak of black light, leaving the witch alone again. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as the onslaught of a migraine caught her again: the upkeep of the spell on the Green Ranger was no longer so great, the bulk of it transferred onto the Sword of Darkness, but it still created a connection to the enslaved teen, and there were moments when the youth’s rebellious will tried to throw off the spell. The attempts were futile, of course, but she endeavored to smother it anyways for such moments brought about hesitation, and with it risk of failure.

* * *

The Rangers were in the Command Center: Zack was leaning casually against a console with a frown on his face, worry creasing his face; Kimberly was nervously pacing in the center of the room with her hands crossed across her chest while Trini and Billy were helping Alpha with the repairs of the computer terminals.

" I cannot believe he just vanished like that! Rita is surely behind this!" Kim said exasperated, stopping just for a moment to straighten out her pink shirt. When Jason did not show up, they had frantically checked over every place where Jason was known to stop by, but meeting no success. When Alpha-5 had called them from the Command Center, saying he found fluctuations in the connection to the red coin and no sign of Jason in the Angel Grove area, the group knew it was Rita at work. The worst case scenario played out in front of them.

Zack put a hand on Kimberly's shoulder." Kim, you should stop worrying. He'll turn up.", he said with a sympathetic smile. “ You know Jase, he wouldn’t go down without a fight.”

Kimberly just looked at the floor, clenching her fists helplessly. "I should have arrived earlier, gone in to see if Tommy has actually met Jason, or...."

" Kim, ", Trini cut her out and moved to her, "don't blame yourself. You didn't know it would turn out like this. We’re doing all we can to get this place running and start looking for his signature."

“ But I should have known! ”, Kimberly countered in helpless frustration. “ Rita’s been trying to pick us off one by one ever since the Green Ranger appeared. ”

Trini tried to give a reassuring smile to her teammate, at the same time acknowledging her fears: the Green Ranger has been repeatedly trying to strike at them separately and, while the alien forces seemed to draw the line at attacking them while in a crowd, the group had agreed that they’d try to at least travel in pairs.

"Trini, can you come over here and assist me in the repairs for a moment?", Billy asked the Vietnamese girl, while he was bent over the computer console, trying to untangle some scorched wires and put a few other boards in their place. The consoles had been fried, but the mainframe of the Command Center had been well protected deeper underground, and it was only a matter of part replacement to get back the interface with it. Billy was meticulously working on it, with a crate of parts next to him and a soldering kit close at hand. Trini moved over to help him while Alpha moved to Kimberly, his saucer-like head almost wobbling while he walked.

" Ay ay ay, Kimberly, do not worry. We will find Jason.", the little robot quipped in, in an attempt to soothe the fears of the Pink Ranger. The little red and gold automaton had spent the day in maintenance mode to help speed the virus purge that Billy had initiated. He did not dare to interface with the mainframe directly until he was very sure there was no risk of infection.

" The computer is operational." Billy announced with a tired sigh after a few minutes and everyone else turned around to face the fixed terminal, while Alpha proceeded to stand near Billy and help him start the search for Jason. The room was finally brightened by the green light cast by the holo-projectors as the terminal started up, the lightning symbol of the Rangers rotating in mid-air while the system booted.

Zack fervently hoped they weren’t too late as Billy started the search, the screens lighting up green, tracing diagrams and maps flanked by wave diagrams representing the search patterns of Jason’s Power and his vital signs.

* * *

Kevin was working on an advanced kata in the forest outskirts with his backpack laying near a rock, when he caught an emerald green flash in the corner of his eye. He quickly spun around, meeting eyes with the Green Ranger standing in front of him, brandishing the Sword of Darkness in one hand and the Dragon Dagger in the other. The golden chest armor was ominously shining in the sun as the Ranger slowly advanced on him.

" This is not a good place to be alone. Accidents might happen. ", the Green Ranger smirked, moving to swing the Sword of Darkness at Kevin. Kevin stepped behind out of the swords' reach, just to meet a green ball of energy flying towards him from the Dragon Dagger. He sidestepped, ending up with a small part of his sleeveless shirt burning and his shoulder badly scorched, his body out of balance for a split second from the impact of the blow. He held up a yelp of pain in his throat at the spreading heat on his skin just as he saw the Green Ranger confidently charging at him. Regaining his balance quickly as the Green Ranger closed distance between them, Kevin steadied himself for the fight that ensured.

The two moved intertwined in a flurry of blows, the Green Ranger intent at slashing his opponent to pieces, while Kevin sidestepping, ducking and overall evading the blades, while returning a few counterattacks of his own. While the Green Ranger had the benefit of his powers and of his reinforced suit, Kevin vaguely knew the younger teen was only a tie match for his brother and focused on sports combat. He, on the other hand, had vastly more experience and training in the styles of karate and ninjutsu, neither of the arts taught to him in the confines of sports competition rules but for the crucible of real combat. With his shoulder burning and bleeding, he bounded and leapt around, and then moved fast to attack in a perfect execution of hit-and-run attacks. Where the Green Ranger was confidently aggressive, Kevin’s moves were economically cautious and precise. At one point there was a resounding crunch as the Green Ranger’s armored gauntlet hit its mark with amplified force, almost flattening Kevin’s nose and causing the teen to bound backwards, buying himself time to clear the spots dancing in front of his eyes.

As the sword jabbed towards him, Kevin moved aside, finally seeing an opening. He hit his opponent's sword arm with full force between the armor reinforcement and on the arm nerve points, causing the Green Ranger to drop the sword. Grabbing him by that same arm, he twisted it, but ended up having the Dragon Dagger slash at his left cheek, the blade penetrating pretty deep into the skin. The Green Ranger got his arm free and quickly stepped back, but noticed that the Sword was behind his opponent and that he'll have to do with the Dagger. He executed a feint slash while projecting a kick to Kevin's abdomen area. The kick connected, but Kevin just bent slightly while exhaling, maintaining balance and preventing the evil Ranger from knocking the wind out of him. Evading a couple more slash attempts to his chest, he pulled back in leaps in time to pick up the Sword of Darkness and use it to parry the incoming attack with the dagger. The two engaged in a blade fight, with Kevin shortly having the upper hand due to the superior distance of the sword. He moved like a wind-whirl with the blade, the fast and methodical strikes managing to land on the Ranger's arms and side, to finish with a devastating blow to the Green Rangers' shield, which sent him rolling down from impact, the dagger flying out of his hand. The Green Ranger looked up, just to see the tip of the sword pointed to his visor.

" I should kill you here and now.", Kevin muttered through his teeth, his eyes shining with anger, as blood trickled onto the Green Ranger’s uniform from his wounds, smudging the top of the shield with blotches of red. He stood above the Ranger by sheer willpower as his body throbbed painfully.

"You won’t dare.", the Green Ranger replied tiredly, yet managing to sound as if he were mocking the other teen. In a cold, threatening motion, Kevin raised the sword above his head, as if he were preparing for the final strike, but in a flash of green, both the sword and the Ranger were gone. Finally, Kevin’s shoulders sagged, the rush of adrenaline abandoning him, leaving only tiredness and pain behind. He stumbled to his backpack, picked it up and slowly made his way back into the suburbs, clutching his burning and bleeding shoulder, while his ribs were pulsating faintly in pain and his left cheek was bleeding from the slash. His nose throbbed, the stream of blood that flowed from it barely stemmed by the teen finding a towel haphazardly crumpled in his backpack with which to press against it. Other minor bleeding wounds and bruises marred his form, and at this point, he gave his best not to collapse while heading towards home. As he stepped into the street, people looked at him with worry. Several had heard the sounds of battle that came out from the park or saw the brief flashes of green and had run over to see what was going on. With every step taken, Kevin tried not to stumble as adrenaline gave way to exhaustion, and a few people offered to call an ambulance, to which he barely coherently declined. His vision was getting slightly misty, and he grasped at street lights and fences in an effort to steady himself. Seeing someone coming his way with an officer in tow, Kevin made a detour, elbowing his way through the surprised pedestrians, not wishing to deal with any kind of authorities right now. Trouble seemed to pile up one after another, and he did not have the coherence to deal with it.

* * *

Jason was unaware in what danger his brother placed himself in, much to his luck. He paced around the Dark Dimension, his nostrils filled of stagnant air and mist that permeated the place. He had tried leaning on the bars that criss-crossed the walls in hopes of uncovering some kind of secret passage out of the room, but the more the time passed, he started to have less and less hope that he would get out of this predicament on his own. When Goldar finally materialized in the center of the room, Jason got up from where he had been sitting on the floor and put up a wary guard. This could be over very fast.

"Well if it isn't the Red Ranger. ", Goldar smirked, giving the teen a critical one-over with a glance. "Were you looking for this?" , taunted as he opened his left hand to reveal the Red Ranger morpher and coin and showed it to Jason, the golden reflection of the light from the metal almost teasing him with its gleam. The Camian clipped the morpher onto his belt, exposed.

"Let us see how tough you are without this. If you manage to take it from me, you're out of here. Now show me what you've got!". Goldar stated with a fanged grin, then eased himself into an attack stance with his sword drawn, just moments before he lunged after the teen.

Jason didn't have the time to answer as he was forced to duck and evade the sword blow, which hit the metal bar next to him, causing sparks to fly into the air. Getting back to the opposite wall, Jason watched as Goldar charged at him again, but this time he was ready. He sidestepped the next sword blow and delivered a roundabout kick to Goldar's back, under the wings where the armor opened to allow for the alien to take flight. Goldar stumbled forward almost head-first into the wall, averted by twisting around and presenting his shoulder first. The alien stood upright and turned to face Jason, his eyes lit by a delighted glint: the Red Ranger had always been a challenge in battle and the Camian was glad he would not disappoint despite not having his powers. He swung a feint vertical slash with the sword and instead kicked Jason in the ribs as he sidestepped out of the blade’s way. Jason heard his ribs crack faintly as he bent over in pain, and knew he was not going to get to his morpher easily. A moment later he was backhanded by Goldar, falling to the floor. Jason decided he'd play a waiting game, hiding in the thick floor mist and try to get to his morpher.

His thoughts briefly went to his team: they must’ve been mad with worry when he did not show up for his meeting with Kimberly. The thought crossed his mind quickly despite his currently deadly predicament, and managed to drag out a smile from him. It was so very typical of him, thinking about the rest of the group while he was on the verge of being turned into so much minced meat.

Goldar frowned, seeing that the Red Ranger was not getting up. He was pretty sure he did not harm the human that much. His eyes flew over the area of the room, but the fog covering the floor was unwavering.

"Getting scared, Red Ranger? Well, you will not be able to hide like this forever.", he taunted then proceeded to thrust the sword downward, stabbing at the floor in a random pattern.

Jason shuffled along the floor carefully, trying to evade the sword falling on him. Several times, the sword came down very close to his head, its tip giving a loud clang as it hit the stone floor, and he started to think he might not make it at all. He could not keep moving indefinitely and Goldar was bound to hit some part of him sooner or later. He sprung up behind Goldar, knowing where the leonine alien would have his back turned and executed a round kick to Goldar’s sword hand. The surprised alien dropped his sword as his arm swung outward from the force of the kick. Jason used that slight second of surprise to dive after the morpher on the alien’s belt, grasping the small device in desperation. As he braced himself for the inevitable savage counterattack of his alien opponent, Goldar looked slightly up with surprise and urgency showing on his face, and then vanished in a black flash.

* * *

The Green Ranger materialized in the Moon Palace, clutching his side with his almost numb arms. Even given all his advantages, he felt like he just wrestled a bear unmorphed. The Sword of Darkness materialized on the ground next to him, and he picked up the weapon, only to dismiss it. He raised his head to see Rita looming over him, visibly furious. The gem in her staff was giving out a sinister light as she marched to the throne and slumped down on it.

"Is it possible you cannot do a single thing right today?", she sighed in exasperation, massaging her temples. She had barely pulled the Green Ranger out: the recent battles took a toll on her that the Green Ranger’s mistake kept compounding. The boy in front of her was cowed and shaken, helmet under his arm and eyes averted down. Only by the steel in his gaze she knew he simmered at the defeat.

"My Empress, I....", Tommy started, just to be cut short by a wave of her hand. She was tired. Not only of excuses.

" Make yourself useful. Either convince the Red Ranger to join us, or kill him.", she ordered, turning around and mentally issuing a command to Goldar to come back to the palace. She felt the Green Ranger’s will give another tug at rebelling and she pushed it back through the mental link. A small smile crept on her face: maybe, if the current Green Ranger proved a failure, she could trade the Red Ranger for someone more useful. The Green Ranger’s mistake was not a total failure, and she liked what she had seen.

" Yes, my Queen.", Tommy bowed profusely and disappeared in a streak of green.

* * *

Zack was glancing around the Command Center, watching the faces of his teammates. The rest of the team had been shaken from the fight they had witnessed over the Viewing Globe between Kevin and the Green Ranger. The Viewing Globe lit up with so much interference as the system picked up the Green Ranger’s presence that it took the group a couple of minutes before the picture cleared. The fight that unfolded before their eyes had been fast and deadly, rooting the group to where they’d been standing in mute shock. By the time they overcame the initial shock of surprise, it was already over, the Green Ranger gone and Kevin barely standing upright.

"Why would Rita attack a civilian like that?", Zack wondered aloud, his fingers drumming on the top of the console.

Kimberly leaned against a console, shaking. She could barely believe what she saw. "And why exactly Kevin? He's not involved."

"Perhaps Rita knows that Kevin is Jason's brother and wants to use that to her advantage?", Trini offered tentatively, but the suggestion sounded so silly to her as it must have to the others: this clearly hadn’t been an attempt to capture him. It had been too destructive for that.

"The only plausible possibility is that Kevin uncovered something pertaining to the Green Ranger.", Billy concluded, his attention now back to the computer screens, watching for any sign of Jason, while Alpha was trying to recover the inter-dimensional link to Zordon.

" We need to talk to him. If you’re right, Billy, we need to know whatever he found out. We can’t leave him to deal with this by himself.", Kim stated as she got up and brought up her morpher from where it materialized behind her back. In the aftermath of Jason’s disappearance, she felt some kind of responsibility towards his brother, who was now doing his best to drag himself towards home. Seeing the police officer that had made a beeline for her friend on the Viewing Globe, she sighed. “ We have to be fast though, seems like he’ll be in trouble again.”

"I'll come with you. There's nothing else we can do until we find Jason anyways.", Zack said standing up and bringing up his own morpher. He did not like this turn of events, but things have been moving too fast for their liking lately. “IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!”

“ MASTODON!”

“ PTERODACTYL!”

The two calls echoed in the Command Center and in a flash of black and pink, Kimberly and Zack were gone, leaving Billy. Trini and Alpha alone in the main chamber as silence descended on them like an uneasy blanket.

* * *

Jason had just gotten up and got some respite from his fight with Goldar when he saw a flash of green appear, revealing the Green Ranger standing in front of him. He clipped the morpher to the back of his belt: his attempt at using it in this dimension had failed miserably, with the Red power forming his armor and then just sizzling away. This change of the combatants did not bode well for him, and he tried his best to appear calm and composed as he took a battle stance, all the while his body tried to use whatever Power reserves it had to compensate for his injuries.

"Ah, the famous Red Ranger. How does it feel to be at the mercy of your enemy?", the Green Ranger taunted him, carelessly circling whom he perceived as his prey.

Jason ignored the jab, instead asking: "Why are you working for Rita?"

"My Empress gave me power you cannot imagine.", the Green Ranger sneered back as the two circled each other. “ All she requires in return is your destruction.”

“ If you think I’m going to roll over and die, you’re mistaken.”, Jason growled, eyes narrowing. He had to try his best not to let the suspense unnerve him.

“ I don’t expect anything less from Zordon’s lackey.”, the Green Ranger answered, swinging the Sword of Darkness loosely. “ My Empress ordered me to extend you the offer to join us.”

" She can shove it.", Jason stated firmly, tightening his fists in anticipation of the attack his answer is going to provoke. “ I’d rather die than surrender to evil.”

" You have no idea how I’ve been itching to hear you say that.", the other Ranger retorted with a laugh. The savagery with which the Green Ranger launched himself at Jason surprised the teen, and he barely evaded the first sword slash that would have ripped apart one of his arms. As he rolled out of the way, his hand brushed against the morpher that stood clipped at his belt, and silently hoped that his friends would find him before he lost his life.

* * *

Billy saw the computer screen flash with its newest readout and he quickly let out a cry of happiness. "We found him!", the sandy-haired teen shouted with elation as he brought the information to the forefront of the screen. He pushed up the glasses on his nose, squinting at the information displayed.

Trini was working on one of the other system when Billy’s exclamation startled her. She quickly came to stand over his shoulder as she watched him working the computer commands, trying to lock onto Jason's unique signature long enough to get him and his morpher out of whatever place he was in right now. And it proved no easy task with the signature periodically vanishing from the spectrum, then to return with force.

" Can I help you with anything, Billy?", Trini asked, concerned as she looked at the screen. Her portion of the holographic screen showed the rotating picture of the Tyrannosaurus coin, under it scrolling the power level emanating from it. The heavy fluctuation of the power levels showed that someone or something was trying its best to scramble the energy reading. Rita didn’t want Jason to be found.

" No, I'm still trying to get the signal strength stable enough so we can have a clear lock-on onto Jason.", Billy replied, his fingers nimbly tracing their way across the keyboard.

As she watched the information stream shift before her eyes, Trini mouthed a silent prayer for her friend to come back to them safe. She feared that if they lost Jason to Rita, the group would fall apart completely.

" Got him!", a triumphant cry came from Billy a few minutes later as he activated the teleportation systems.

* * *

Jason got thrown back into the wall by a vicious kick to the chest, then slumped on the floor, breathing raggedly. His ribs, cracked earlier by Goldar and haphazardly healed with the Power, were again pulsating with almost unbearable pain. His arms were criss-crossed with bleeding cuts and it was a miracle he had found any strength left in him to move. At this point he knew he wasn't going to win this fight, not while being worn out by Goldar before. The Green Ranger smiled at the labored breath and haggard look of his opponent and moved to step on Jason’s left wrist while pointing the Sword of Darkness at his chest.

" You should’ve chosen better.", he stated gravely. "One down, four to go."

With that he raised the sword above his head and then sent the blade crashing down towards Jason's chest. Jason felt the blade penetrate the skin and sink deeper inch by inch as it traveled from left shoulder to the center of his chest, each second an eternity. The sense of shock and imminent death was broken only by a tingling sensation that spread through his body. In a flash of red he and his morpher were gone and the Green Ranger’s blade sliced down through air.

* * *

Kevin had pushed his way through the crowd to grumbles and surprised gasps to finally lean onto a street light pole when the police officer grabbed his shoulder and forcibly turned him around. Despite the height difference, the officer glared at the teen and surveyed the boy’s injuries.

“ When you are told to stop, you’d do well to do as you’re told!”, the officer bellowed at him, making him wince.

“ Sorry, sir.”, Kevin answered stiffly, trying with some success to straighten himself up and meet the officer’s gaze. The crowd formed a circle around the two, and curious whispers started circulating among the onlookers. Several people tried to push their way to the front to get a better view of the commotion.

“ Now what happened here?”, the officer asked, his voice immediately changing to a calming bass. “ You need to get to a hospital.”, he pointed to the teen’s open cuts and took notice how he swayed on his feet.

“ Nothing, sir. I’ll be fine.”, Kevin shot back defensively, but his body betrayed that lie.

“ As much as you’d want to be a tough guy, you need to go see a doctor. ”, the policeman rebuked the teen lightly. “ I have eyewitnesses saying something happened at the park, and you look like you’ve been in a pretty vicious scuffle.”

Kevin shook his head lightly: he couldn’t go to a doctor. “ Sir, I...”

His response was interrupted by two colored streaks that landed outside of the circle of onlookers. The light revealed the Pink and Black Rangers who immediately pushed their way through the mass of people. The officer raised an eyebrow in unspoken question at the approaching superheroes.

“ Sir, if we may...”, the Pink Ranger said as the two Rangers flanked Kevin.

“ He needs to come with us.”, the Black Ranger stated as he took a hold of the injured teen around the arm to steady him.

“ I presume this had something to do with you lot.”, the officer mumbled. By now, some of the people who lived in the neighborhood returned with cameras and were furiously snapping pictures. In response, the Rangers seemed to do their best to close ranks around the injured teen.

“ He took a strike that was meant for us.”, the Pink Ranger explained, her voice distorted from the helmet. “ We’re going to take him with us to recover.”

Kevin started to speak up, but the Black Ranger nudged him slightly in the ribs, biding him to be quiet. Obviously the Rangers had further business with him, and he realized if he did not leave with them, he’d have to answer to the police and his parents, which would undoubtedly open up a whole host of questions to which he did not have the answers. Besides, knowing how that his brother was one of the Rangers, Kevin wished to get to the bottom of the matter. He gratefully nodded, and the Ranger tightened the grip on his arm. The cop just nodded and saluted among the ripple of sound that passed among the assembled crowd, and the two Rangers and the teen vanished seconds later in streaks of light.


	3. Absolution

Jason materialized in the middle of the Command Center, at first just laying on the dull metal frozen in shock as blood poured down from his open wounds. His haze was broken when he heard two voices yelling his name.

"Jason!", Billy and Trini had said in unison, running to aid their wounded friend. Jason tried to stand up by himself, but he found his wounds to be too painful to allow him to turn to his side, let alone get up. The only thing he could do was take deep breaths, trying to calm his frantic heartbeat.

"I'll get you to the medical lab and tend to your wounds.", Trini soothingly told him, crouching near him and throwing his arm on her shoulder with Billy silently mirroring her on the other side. The Ranger genius was stunned into silence by his best friend’s state, and inside the anger that rarely awoke hardened into resolve: he vowed silently that he’ll bring the Green Ranger menace to an end, no matter what. The two aided Jason to stumble outside the main room into the wide corridors and down to the medical lab. When they laid Jason down on one of the medical beds, Billy left Trini to patch the Red Ranger’s wounds and backtracked to the main room. He gave a sad glance to the empty tube that dominated the front and wished that Zordon were here. As it were, they still had to come any closer to finding the severed link to the ancient sage lost between the dimensions.

Catching the streak of the teleportation system, he was a bit surprised when he turned and saw Kevin materializing while being held and partially supported by the two morphed Rangers. Not even bothering to try and duck behind a console or morph to hide his identity, Billy quickly closed the distance to the newly arrived trio.

" Salutations Kevin.", the teen offered, watching Kevin’s eyes widen in wonder at his surroundings.

" Billy? What are you doing here? ", Kevin asked with his eyebrows raised and an expression of mild surprise on his face, then proceeded to stop Billy from answering by tiredly raising a hand. "Wait, no, don't even bother.....You're a ranger. Am I right?", the teen asked with a tired sigh.

Billy smiled: his older friend caught on quick. " Affirmative. I am the Blue Ranger."

Kevin nodded with an amused albeit tired smile. He walked over to where the sandy-haired youth stood and leaned tiredly onto a computer console, trying to give minor temporary reprieve to his aching muscles. He watched as the other two Rangers looked at each other, seemingly communicating in ways he could not hear.

“ Should we tell him?”, Kimberly asked over the internal communication system, her visor streaming the life signs of their friend.

“ I don’t know. ”, Zack’s uncertain voice drifted back through the communication channel. “ You know the rules...”

“ He has a right to know.”, Kimberly answered back. “ Besides, he now knows Billy’s the Blue Ranger.”

“ We should have thought this through.”, Zack sighed, watching his unmorphed teammate pat the older teen on the shoulder.

“ You really think he won’t figure it out on his own once he’s better?”, Kimberly asked with a snort. “ We don’t know what he saw or what else he knows. He just might go digging after our identities. With Billy out, he’ll figure it out in no time.”

“ And trust works both ways, I guess.”, Zack replied back, resignation lacing his voice. “ Well fuck it, it certainly can’t hurt at this point, now can it?”

Kevin watched as the Black Ranger reached for his helmet and popped the suit seals. A barely audible hiss of air escaped as the Ranger took the helmet off to reveal Zack’s tired face. He gave a faint smile as he noticed Kevin’s eyes widening in surprise once again.

“ Zack.”, the name escaped Kevin’s lips. He looked at Billy and then again at Zack as the African-American laid his helmet to rest onto the nearby console. The sandy-haired young man only offered a shrug in the way of explanation.

Kevin’s mind slipped into overdrive. “ Wait a minute… ”, his voice trailed as the final pieces clicked in place. “ Jason is the red, you’re the blue, Billy… Zack… then the other two are...”

Kimberly let out a giggle at her friend’s frantic reasoning as she unsealed her own helmet and pulled it off her head, letting her hair fall back.

“ Told you he’d figure it out quickly.”, she teased Zack playfully, and the dark-skinned youth returned a good-natured smile as a rebuttal. Kimberly set down her helmet next to Zack’s and moved to embrace Kevin into a friendly hug: being Jason’s oldest friend granted her familiarity with the older teen that almost nobody else could boast of.

“ I should have known.”, Kevin replied with an amused smile as he spread his arms and awkwardly hugged Kimberly. The petite brunette gave him a light hug, barely enveloping the older teen’s frame, careful not to aggravate his wounds further.

“ May I inquire how do you have insight into Jason’s identity?”, Billy asked from the side, watching the other two still morphed Rangers flank the other teen almost protectively.

“ Word of mouth from the Green Ranger.”, Kevin replied with a sharp exhale as he drew himself upwards. As the Rangers looked at one another, exchanging concerned glances, Billy just nodded, as if he was expecting just that answer.

"I believe the story can wait. You require immediate medical attention.", Billy said, motioning the other teen to follow him. Kevin just nodded and tried to take a few steps, but a wave of weakness washed over him and he had to renew his hold of the computer console to keep his balance, his knees almost buckling under him. Black specks swam in his field of view. Zack and Kimberly grasped him by the shoulders and helped him stand up again.

“ Damn it.”, Kevin silently mouthed as the two Rangers helped him steady. Shame burned in his mind at the display of weakness.

" Your wounds have been open for too long. Let us help.", Kimberly said as she gently nudged him into the corridor and in the direction of the medical lab.

Among the sound of heavy footsteps, Billy let out a deep sigh. “ We found Jason.”

The other three teens perked up. For Zack and Kimberly, this was the best piece of good news they’ve had in a long while.

“ Please tell me he’s okay.”, Kimberly pleaded, watching her teammate in blue look downcast. Kevin tensed at Billy’s display of despair, assuming the worse, and it took a stern lock onto the arm from Zack to keep him from forcing himself to lunge onward.

“ He should be. ”, Billy answered back. “ But see for yourself.”

* * *

Jason was sitting upright and breathing heavily as Trini ran her hands across the bruised muscles of his back, dragging line upon line of medical gauze around his torso. The averted disaster was not even spoken of: Trini had realized how close they came to losing Jason as she tended to his many open wounds and bruises, the biggest of which was the slash that adorned his chest. The Power, in combination with the technology of the Command Center and her own first aid knowledge, ensured that Jason would recover in time for the next battle, but nothing could describe the shock that Jason went through as the blade made its way to his heart.

Trini and Jason both turned their heads as they heard the quiet swish of the medical doors and were surprised that following Billy, Zack and Kimberly entered supporting a worse for wear Kevin who stumbled onward as if drunk. Alpha followed behind slowly, duly mopping up the blood drops left behind.

" Jason!", Zack and Kimberly shouted, happy that to see their friend and leader back in one piece. Kevin took the opportunity to silently prop himself onto the adjacent medical cot.

“ Hey guys.”, Jason greeted them, uncomfortably raising his hand.

Zack moved forward and clasped his best friend’s hand firmly. “ Good to have you back.”, he declared in sincere enthusiasm.

" Yea, it’s good to be back. But... Zack, what's Kevin doing here? Kevin, what the Hell happened to you?", Jason asked with concern, his eyes darting over the assembled teens, finally settling on Kevin, who stared almost vacantly at the ceiling while Trini put the Command Center’s considerable medical resources to use once again.

“ It’s been an interesting several hours, okay?", Kevin commented tersely, wincing slightly as Trini laid a healing salve on his burns.

"Shortly, Kevin knows about you being Red, Jase. And he knows who the Green Ranger is.", Kimberly summarized instead.

" What? How the ...?", Jason asked in surprise. Their evil counterpart’s identity has been a tough nut to crack, with Rita covering well the tracks around her Green Ranger.

" The Green Ranger told me.", Kevin said with a tired voice and took a long breath, starting to tell of his accidental eavesdropping, his chase and assault of Tommy in the park, and his subsequent face off with the Green Ranger in reprisal. "So there you have it, everyone. The Green Ranger is Tommy Oliver, the new kid on the block."

* * *

Several days later, Kevin was laying in his bed, awake. He could not sleep, what with the events of the last week passing through his head. The Rangers had put up a show in checking him into the hospital to have his wounds checked at after they had mended what they could in the Command Center. It took all of his insistence, and a made-up story by the Yellow Ranger that prevented the doctors from calling in the Scotts there and then. They had set his nose properly and checked his burns, then discharged him after holding him a day in observation, with the promise that the teen would not do anything to aggravate his condition for the next several weeks.

The bandaged wounds irritated him as he tried to sleep, making him constantly shift around, and he winced as a sharp jolt of pain shot through his shoulder. Going back to laying on his back, he glanced at his alarm clock, the dull red digits read 3:16 AM. He knew he should get some sleep, but it was the start of a weekend so he didn’t think much of it.

Getting up from his bed and padding over to the bathroom, Kevin unraveled his shoulder dressing and observed it critically. He had been extremely lucky the Green Ranger never meant to kill him with the energy blast, only maim him: the energy had dissipated in mid-flight and its partial absorption in his shirt fabric caused a deep second-degree burn that almost bordered on the third. He shook the bottle of burn ointment given to him by Trini and spread the fluid onto a clean gauze strip, then enveloped it onto his shoulder. He secured it all with medical dressing, all the while gritting his teeth from the pain, a growl barely suppressed in his throat. The bruises had already begun to fade, but this injury caused him all sorts of trouble.

Slipping silently back to his room, he put in the combination to the weapons safe mounted next to his wardrobe and then swung the safe door open: at the bottom of the assorted martial arts weaponry was a trash bag. He tossed the medical dressing into the bag, adding it to an already substantial pile of used up medical supplies and his burned shirt, which he had to discard as soon as he’d gotten home from the hospital with Jason. Neither of them could allow their parents to see them so worse for wear, and Kevin learned soon enough what all Jason had to do to keep his secret undiscovered.

Just as he closed the safe door and reapplied the lock, he heard a muffled thud in the room next to his. He made his way to the adjacent room to find Jason awake and sitting upright, breathing heavily with his eyes wide from shock. Beads of sweat were running down his exposed skin, glistening in the scarce light cast by the lamp on the nightstand.

" Jase? What happened?", Kevin stood next to the bed and watched Jason shake his head at the sound of Kevin’s voice, his eyes refocusing.

" It's nothing. My chest was hurting again.", Jason replied, ruffling his already bed-ragged hair. The wounds aggravating him were only a part of the truth: the other half was that his recent experience in captivity had left him quite shaken. To almost die at the hands of a fellow Ranger had shaken him to his core, yet Jason would never admit it to anyone but himself.

Jason dragged himself out of bed and walked to the open window, leaning onto the window sill and inhaling the cool night air that breezed inside.

" There’s something you’re not telling me.", Kevin stated outright, looking at his brother's face as Jason stared outward, all too familiar with the distant look in Jason’s eyes. He’d catch his brother every now and then get that far-away look in his eyes and zone out, but when he had asked, Jason volunteered no information.

This time Jason hesitated, looking at the picture frames on his cluttered work desk. One was of him and his brother as kids, the other was the group of friends which got so much closer since the Power entered their lives. The people in both pictures meant too much to him, and he had resolved never to be weak for them. Yet looking now at his brother, standing there in the doorway with medical dressing sticking out of his sleeve, he realized that at least for his brother he never needed to put up pretenses.

"Yes...I...", he started, "I almost died out there. Tommy almost killed me."

Kevin walked over to his younger brother, coming to a stop next to him and giving a light, reassuring squeeze of Jason’s shoulder. His attention wandered outside, towards the clear night sky and the full moon that lit up the night.

"Why didn't you tell us that? Why didn't you tell me before?", he asked, worry radiating from his voice. Inwardly he chided himself for being an idiot: he had been too worried with his own injuries that day to see that Jason’s injuries told a story all of their own.

" They already have enough problems. Zordon is gone, out Zords are gone, and the Green Ranger is giving us a headache and it wouldn’t do them any good to worry about my scrapes. Besides, I have a feeling Trini knows, given my injuries.” , Jason trailed off uncertainly ,” And you....I...I just don't know. I guess hearing what you had done the first time around, I was afraid you'd go and do something that would get you killed."

" I'm going to rip that son of a bitch in pieces with my bare hands. ", Kevin spat out, with fists clenched.

“ Don’t try anything of the sorts.”, Jason admonished. “ Do you want to make a target of yourself?”

“ You mean more than I already have? ”, Kevin growled, almost rounding on Jason in irritation. “Tommy made a target of himself when he kidnapped you. I will NOT sit idle while you risk your head against that guy. Every week you put yourself on the line, and the stakes are too high! I’d rather make sure that the guy eats through a straw for the rest of his days, than see you in that same position again.”

“ Lowering yourself to their level will do more harm than good.”, Jason raised his voice by a fraction.

“ So what do you suggest?”, Kevin inquired coldly, arms crossed across his chest.

" One step at a time. We get Zordon back, then we go after the Green Ranger. I am sure Tommy is not himself right now. ", Jason replied, dropping back down on the bed. “ We can work that angle, see what happens.”

“ Right. Whatever you say.” Casting a last glance to the bandage that enveloped Jason’s chest, Kevin turned around and took his leave, leaving a pensive Jason alone once again. Jason listened to the footsteps fading into the night as he laid down once again. Their argument made him feel ill at ease: his brother’s cold fury had him automatically defend the rogue Ranger, all the while he really had no idea how, or if, they will be able to save him. Shaking his head one last time as if to chase the troubled thoughts away, Jason relaxed and slowly slipped back into the darkness of sleep.

Laying once again in his bed, Kevin listened to the sounds outside for a few moments, tossing and turning. He closed his eyes and shifted his attention on trying to hear sounds from his brother's bedroom, but he heard nothing. His thoughts drifted from Jason to the events of the past week, then back to Jason and their talk. He’d been too harsh, too cold in his assessment of the Green Ranger, and all too willing to cut the chase surrounding the entire event in the worst possible way. And with reluctance he had to concede Jason was right: they could still redeem the Green Ranger. The only thing that troubled Kevin was the cost of such redemption; the tally of casualties so far had been high. He decided he'd ask Billy tomorrow if he can accompany the younger genius back to the Command Center and help with the computers. Despite his martial arts training, Kevin was a computer enthusiast and if one couldn’t find him training, they’d find him tinkering with computers, to the best of his ability and talent. He let his thoughts drift away, trying not to dwell on any single train of thought. Five minutes later he fell into sleep, and towards a new day.

* * *

The next morning Jason got slowly up as he noticed his alarm clock. The 10:30 AM glared at him from his nightstand as if in accusation. Chiding himself for oversleeping the morning workout, he dragged himself to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, after waking himself every so slightly under a hot shower and changing his bandage dressing, he got down the stairs and into the kitchen in a slightly less sleepy state that what he was when he got up. The table was laid out and breakfast was already waiting for him.

" ‘Morning. You really did go out like a light after we talked, didn’t you? ", Kevin greeted him with a fleeting smile from where he sat down at the table, bent over a school book with a piece of toast in hand.

" 'Morning Kevin. Why didn't you wake me up? Thought we agreed I'd do morning routines with you?", Jason asked him as he sat at the table and grabbed a piece of toast from the plate. There was no trace of sour mood from their argument last night, for which Jason was grateful. Whether or not his brother saw Jason’s side of things was debatable. In some ways, Jason sympathized: he would’ve probably had a similar reaction were the roles reversed.

" You needed the rest. ", Kevin replied, waving a hand in dismissal of the issue.

Jason chose not to argue that one as he munched on his breakfast and glanced at the kitchen clock, then sighed. "I’m running late to meet with the rest of the gang. They're going to be worried again."

" Kimberly already called from the Youth Center. I told her we'd be a bit late. "

" Thanks.", Jason mumbled between mouthfuls of food. That Kevin was coming with him somehow came to no surprise.

Jason sized up Kevin as the older teen sat opposite of him, as he did so many times during the last week. His arms showed a few superficial scars from the fight, while his left cheek had a much deeper scar running across it. Sticking out from under his sleeve was a patch of skin bandaged tightly, and Jason didn’t doubt that Kevin’s entire side was covered in the medical dressing. The older teen should have been confined to rest due to the extent of his injuries, but the advanced technology of the Command Center helped speed his recovery remarkably. Usually not a very religious person, Jason still gave silent thanks to whatever deity had them both live through their ordeals.

“ How are you really holding up?”, Jason finally asked, seeing his brother shift his position in the chair. Every so often he’d notice the older teen brush his hand lightly against his burned shoulder: evidently the touch of the cloth fabric irritated him.

“ Like normality flew right out the nearest window.”, Kevin replied with a sigh, letting his resolute facade drop for the moment.

“ Imagine how I felt when a giant head in a tube gave me an offer to be a superhero.”, Jason commented with a grin, trying to keep his tone as lighthearted as possible.

“ Like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole.”, Kevin shot back as he caught the attempt of good humor, causing Jason to laugh lightly.

“ I couldn’t have summed it better.”, the younger Lee Scott replied. Despite Kevin’s often stern demeanor, Jason was glad that he could finally share his experience as a Ranger with his brother: as much as Jason acted as a unwavering support for his team, so did Kevin fulfill that role as a big brother for Jason on the rare occasion when Jason felt the stress eat at him.

" Well Jase, if you're finished, let's go. ", Kevin offered casually as he placed the dirty dishes in the sink, then moved to the table and slammed the book shut, shaking Jason from his reverie. His eyes bore a spark of enthusiasm that refused to be dimmed by recent events.

Half an hour later the two ran into the parking lot of the Youth Center. The heavier pace they had set for themselves made up for the lack of a common morning routine workout, and the two breathed heavy with exertion, but their faces were adorned with grins of satisfaction. They were sore, but it was a good start.

" Hey! Look who showed up!", Zack shouted, spotting them as the two passed the doorway of the establishment.

" About time. ", Kimberly giggled as the two approached them and pulled two chairs over. She slowly sipped at her smoothie in a sort of contentment, relieved by the fact that both guys seemed to be recovering just fine.

" Sorry for being late.", Kevin greeted them with a wave of hand, not even bothering to sit down onto the nearest free chair. He didn’t plan to stay around for long if he could help it.

" It is no big deal. ", Zack said, grinning, watching Jason lower himself slowly into the chair: the other teen was breathing more shallowly and rapidly.

“ You two have barely recovered.”, Trini said with reprimand, putting her hands on her hips in a sign of disapproval. “ And you’re already up and wearing yourself out.”

“ Stop worrying, ‘Mom’.”, Jason replied with a smile. “ We’ll be fine.”

“ You should know better than to let him aggravate his chest like that.”, Trini rebutted, pointing a finger in Kevin’s direction.

“ Hey, a run won’t hurt him.”, Kevin replied with a shrug. “ We didn’t spar early in the morning, if that’s what you meant.”

Trini rolled her eyes in resignation and decided not to answer. Being the most knowledgeable person on the team when it came to medical issues, she cringed at the thought of the two boys going along as if nothing happened. Jason at least had the benefit of the Power, and that has gotten him recovered in record time over the last several days, but Kevin was a different story. She could not stress enough to the older teen that he should try and give his shoulder a rest: the Command Center’s medical technology had already done miracles in speeding his burn recovery, but he had to take care of the rest.

“ So what’s the game plan?”, Zack asked, both in genuine curiosity and to save the two boys from further lectures.

“ Billy, do you need any help?”, Kevin asked, turning to the sandy-haired teen that sat among them in silence and kept his focus on a book. Billy shook his head as from a reverie, rubbing at his eyes absentmindedly.

“ It would be much appreciated.”, Billy answered, closing the book that took so much of his attention after carefully placing a bookmark among its pages. “ I assume you’re familiar with signal sampling and filtering.”

“ More than familiar.”, came the answer back, to the amusement of the rest of the group. “ When do you want to start?”

“ We could take our leave momentarily, current company permitting.”, Billy said, glancing at the rest of the teens sitting around them.

“ You two go on ahead.”, Jason spoke up for the rest of the group, to the silent approval of the rest of his friends. Each of them could see how perked up Billy was at the prospect of getting Kevin’s input in finding Zordon. There was no doubt the young genius wanted to get it over with, but in the last couple of days, it had seemed like the search kept hitting a dead end. Trini had been the most worried of the group when it came to Billy: she had not failed to notice the telltale signs of sleep deprivation and stress that plagued each of the members of the group in turn, but Billy’s were particularly bad. That he was still functioning lucidly was a testament to his quiet willpower.

Billy slid off the chair and scooped up the book from the table. He silently nodded for the older teen to follow him, and Kevin silently fell into step behind him. The remaining teens exchanged glances.

“ You think they’ll find anything?”, Kimberly asked, voice toned down.

“ They have to.”, Trini answered back, her eyes following the two teens until they passed through the glass doors of the Youth Center and turned out of sight.

“ Billy seemed pretty stressed out over the search.”, Kimberly remarked. “ And if he can’t do anything...”

Jason reassuringly put a hand over her shoulder. “ Sometimes, a second opinion is all you need to get out of a dead end. Billy’s gonna make it.”

Zack cast a glance over his shoulder, watching with a smirk as Tommy marched into the workout area and slid his arms around one of the machines. He had come in just as Billy and Kevin had been leaving, and had bumped shoulders rather forcefully with the older teen as Kevin had imposed himself between Billy and Tommy almost protectively, with an air of threat just simmering under the acid smiles. Several bruises could be seen on the boy’s arms, a stark reminder for the Green Ranger never to underestimate his opponent. No doubt there were more of them under his clothing. “ Knowing Rita, we’re gonna have our hands full soon enough.”, he mumbled out.

Jason followed his friend’s gaze, his eyes passing over Zack’s shoulder and then snapping back to the surface of the table for a moment. “ You’re right. And we’ll have to be ready to turn the tables around.”

* * *

Rita’s dogged fury trumped the exhaustion the witch was feeling in the marrow of her bones. Her plans to kill the Red Ranger and the meddling human had failed, but the Rangers had taken heavy damage in the recent battles and she was confident they would not last. The Rangers seemed to know who her Green Ranger was, and they had made efforts to hang around in groups around him, closing ranks and thus making every attempt at picking them off one by one fail. The Pink Ranger had even gone ahead with her pathetic attempt to make Tommy see reason, and Rita had to spend some time smothering the spark of rebellion from the teen.

Her henchmen had been celebrating the incapacitation of the Zords, but the old witch was sure that even without the war machines, the Earthen team of Rangers would be far from giving up, useless as it was to resist. Looking at the blue planet that occupied most of the view from her balcony, an idea formed in her head and she went to consult her ancient tome of magic, finally finding the chant she was looking for. She ensured that the Green Ranger was awake, and she had him summoned. A weak mental resistance came back, but the boy materialized in front of her a few minutes later and dropped on one knee.

" You wanted me, my Empress? ", he spoke, his face emotionless all the while sweat dropped down his face.

" Despite the fact that you consistently failed me in the most important battles so far, I have a gift for you. Morph and hand me the Dragon Dagger!", she ordered him, extending her hand towards the boy.

In a flash of green, he stood morphed and handed her the Dagger, then stepped back as she started to chant. A green emerald glow enveloped the dagger and then shot to Earth, in the midst of the deep water somewhere off the coast of Angel Grove. Where the beam hit, the water churned and bubbled, as if it were boiling, and soon enough a massive green and black Zord slowly emerged from under the waves. The amphibious machine moved ponderously through water until it finally it ambled on land, emerging in its full glory.

" Behold, Green Ranger, the Dragon Zord. Your own Zord.", she told him as the Zord rose from the sea, delightfully imagining his expression of awe under the helmet. The mental link that connected her to the Ranger slave returned a sense of panic instead: the boy was aware for what the Zord will be used to. She crushed it and asserted her control again. " Use it, and let the humans know once and for all know about their new ruler."

" At once, my Queen.", he bowed and vanished in a flash, sent to deliver another round of terror to the populace below.

* * *

Billy and Kevin were working alongside Alpha for more than an hour, and were arms deep in papers, their surface littered with what looked at a glance gibberish, scribbled all over in pen and pencil. After Billy introduced Kevin to the Command Center systems proper and they ran an initial trial and error run, they chose to adopt a new method of trying to pin down Zordon’s signal, and were now playing an almost simultaneous game of whack-a-mole with signal amplifiers and lockers across dozens of scannable dimensions. The idea had been to get the signal locked from various different parts, and once done, the computer systems would have plenty to go on to keep a permanent lock. Or so they hoped.

In the midst of yet another attempt to make their idea work, their concentration was broken by the shrill sounds of the alarm klaxons that made both teens jerk from the consoles in surprise, and Billy turned to see the Viewing Globe light up, its smooth surface displaying the sight of a massive Zord making its way along the coast towards the outskirts of the Angel Grove port district.

“ It seems like we are getting an unwelcome respite from our efforts.”, Billy grumbled as he watched the Viewing Globe.

“ You know what they say: no rest for the wicked.”, Kevin replied with a shrug, turning back to the nearby console. Billy just nodded and moved to the communications equipment in order to call the rest of the team, still unsure how are they going to deal with this threat with the Zords in no combat state.

The group was loitering around the outside of the Youth Center. No sooner that they noticed Tommy was no longer in the Youth Center’s gym, they decided to go with the paranoid solution and went outside. Zack and Jason pretended they were engrossed in the game of basketball that was played on one of the game courts, and they offhandedly commented on the player moves. Kimberly and Trini chatted amiably of the new happenings in the mall, all the while they kept close watch on their surroundings. If there was any sign of trouble, they would be able to spot it outside.

“ Hey, do you see that?”, Kimberly pointed in the distance to a patch of gray sky. It looked like smoke.

“ I hope it’s not another attack.”, Trini commented, covering her eyes from the glare of the sun to have a better look.

The familiar six-toned beep chimed, and Trini frowned. She had to jinx it. The group drew together, moving away into a secluded spot.

Jason was the one who answered. "Billy, we read you. What's wrong? "

" We have an monumental problem on our hands. Get to the Command Center as soon as you can. ", Billy’s voice came concerned over the communications line.

" We'll be right there.", Jason said and closed the communication link, then motioned to the others. As they moved to find the perfect spot from which to teleport, the distant sounds of klaxons sounded through the city, an alarm system that had been put in place by the city council in an attempt to mitigate the casualties from the monster attacks. Finally finding adequate cover, the teens teleported away.

As the Rangers landed in the Command Center, the Viewing Globe showed the image of a building demolished by the Dragonzord’s tail. The massive machine had been mowing through the buildings, heedless of the wreckage and vehicles that it had trampled underfoot.

" It barely arrived and it’s already doing damage.", Zack said concerned as the fuzzy picture of the Viewing Globe panned all over the wreckage. "Any plans?"

" We go down there and stop it.", Jason said through gritted teeth as he reached for his morpher.

“ Now there’s a crazy plan if I ever heard one.”, Zack muttered.

“ Our Zords have less than ten percent of power, and the automated repair systems have not even managed to mend even a fraction of the damage sustained.”, Billy interjected in, looking at his friends. Jason had crossed his arms in exasperation: the Blue Ranger knew his friend hated feeling helpless.

“ There’s something we can do for the civilians…”, Kimberly added in thought, then perked up. “ Does anyone else hear that?”

Silence fell as the rest of the group tried to pinpoint just what Kimberly noticed. Trini was the first that did so. “ It’s music. Notes.”

Billy turned over to the console and started frantically typing. A moment later, a diagram of the Dragonzord showed on one of the screens, and everyone noticed one glaring detail: the operator’s seat was empty.

Kimberly’s eyes widened. “ He’s controlling it from the outside.”

“ Okay, we have a shot.”, Jason perked up, his mind forming a battle plan, ” Kim, can you help me keep the Green Ranger busy? I’ll need some covering fire to prevent the Green Ranger from playing. “ Kimberly just nodded. “ The rest of you, help the civilians. We need to clear the area. If we’re not fast enough, we’ll be risking military intervention.” The rest of the Rangers silently acknowledged: several times, during their toughest battles, the US military had gotten involved. Nothing good could come out of their intervention today.

Billy looked to where Kevin had been working along with Alpha. “ Will you be able to continue the search without my input?”

“ Don’t worry about me. You’ve got bigger problems.”, Kevin replied with a nod, one eye looking over the latest readouts.

“ Good luck.”, Jason said with a grim smile, nodding to his brother, then brought his morpher from behind his back. “ It’s morphin time!”

The calls echoed through the main chamber of the Command Center and then the morphed Ranger vanished, leaving Alpha and Kevin alone. The little robot turned to the Viewing Globe, gave a small shake of its saucer-like head then returned to the console. They had a lot of work to do.

* * *

Kimberly broke into a sprint across the rubble, following the faint sound trail of the notes echoing amongst the buildings. The Rangers had landed in separate locations, not wanting to present too clear of a target to the giant Zord that loomed overhead. Specks of dust and remnants of concrete flew around her as the Dragonzord stomped among the port district. She gripped her Power Bow tightly as she moved around the crashed cars and debris with agility that would make her fellow gymnasts jealous. She did not see many civilians around her as she ran on: those few that she passed by seemed shocked and disoriented as they fled, and she wondered how many of their coworkers would be buried under the rubble. Every battle with the Green Ranger had carried with it a tally of victims previously unheard of in these attacks. He had been an opponent they had not managed to contain, as they could the simple monsters.

To no surprise, her path took her towards that part of the dock which housed the authorities, and she spotted the Green Ranger standing on one of the few buildings left unscathed, the naval traffic control tower. He was standing tall on its flat roof, next to the antennae, and the sound issued from the Dragon Dagger that he used as a flute. She thought for a moment of how she was going to wipe that smug air of superiority around him as she pulled up her bow and an arrow of pure energy formed between her fingers. She let the projectile fly, and she watched in satisfaction as it hit true: for a moment the Green Ranger lost his footing, and it almost looked like he was going to plunge down into the sea. The music stopped, and with it the giant war machine lumbered to a halt.

Billy heard the music stop, and far above him the enemy Zord ground to a halt. He gave silent thanks to whomever got to the Green Ranger first as he intercepted a pair of workers, both of them frantically gesturing at one of the collapsed buildings nearby. The Blue Ranger followed them to one of the narrow passages, where he found another man, trapped between the rubble that had fallen. It took the aid of the two man and all of his Power-enhanced strength to clear the rubble so much as to be able to help the wounded man out. He helped set the trio on their way, and watched in dismay as they fled the scene: there would be no ambulance close by, and this battle may yet claim them. He idly wondered if Zack and Trini fared any better, or if all they would find would be bodies.

It came to no surprise when Kimberly saw the Green Ranger jumping down from the tower and charging towards her, both the Sword of Darkness and the Dragon Dagger drawn. She fired multiple arrows in rapid succession, watching as some of the projectiles turned the charge, while others dissipated harmlessly off the shield that protected the evil Ranger. She had yet to go for vulnerable body parts: after all, there was still a human being under the helmet. In moments, he was on her, and she fended off his strikes with all the gymnastic prowess she had and her bow. There was no talking between them: there was nothing to be said, and she did not want to give him the satisfaction of gloating.

A respite came from the left as a blaster bolt buried itself in the Green Ranger’s side, followed by the angry blur that was the Red Ranger charging with his sword drawn. Jason forced the Green Ranger to shift targets, and Kimberly was free to gain some distance to put her considerable marksmanship skills to use again.

“ Oh, this is going to be good!”, the Green Ranger laughed as he looked over the two Rangers, blades bared. “ Two weaklings.”

“ Don’t count us out yet, *Tommy*.”, Jason growled back, putting an emphasis on the Green Ranger’s name. In response, the Green Ranger charged his dagger, deadly green energy enveloping the blade. The energy ball flew towards the Red Ranger, but in a flash of light it dissipated: Kimberly stood with her bow drawn, another arrow drawn at the ready. She had taken a chance, shooting down one energy projectile with the other, and now stood poised with another at the ready.

“ Just because we don’t want to hurt you, doesn’t mean we won’t beat you.”, Kimberly quipped in, watching as her visor streamed all the available targets. As she focused on a target, so did the helmet HUD display the damage the shot would do. She immediately dismissed those marks where it was obvious the shot would do permanent harm.

“ What a bunch of optimists.”, Tommy retorted, bringing the dagger back to the mouthpiece of his helmet. Before Kimberly snapped another shot, the music sounded again and the Zord started moving.

* * *

Kevin’s fingers flew frantically over the keyboard. A dozen waveforms overlapped and then dispersed on the screen, to be replaced again by others. The Viewing Globe still streamed the battle, but to the teen, it was only a distant din that made up the background of an otherwise silent chamber. Another set of readings disappeared from the screen, and Kevin sank his head in between his hands, giving the screen a wary glance.

“ Ay, ay ay.”, Alpha ambled next to him, the little automaton giving him a light tap on the arm. “ Do not give in to frustration.”

“ It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”, Kevin blurted out in a huff, leaning on the console. “ There’s so much interference. The initial markers that Billy found check out, but I can’t seem to peg the rest.”

“ I’m afraid the Rangers are not doing any better than we are.”, Alpha commented as sullenly as a robot could, and Kevin turned to the Viewing Globe for a moment. The music controlling the Dragonzord had resumed, and human and robot alike could only watch as the Rangers scattered once again, refusing to present a clear target for the enemy Zord. It managed only a volley before the music stopped again, and the image panned towards the Pink Ranger firing anew towards the Green Ranger.

Kevin clenched his fists in cold anger, more at himself than at anything else. He was angry that he seemed unable to carry out the search that had been entrusted to him, all the while the battle on the screen raged. He briefly called up the status of the Zords: the machines’ power levels were slowly rising, but there was no way to speed up the repairs with the Zord Bay systems that worked so far. His fingers trailed again towards the pencil as his eyes found the scattered pieces of paper that littered the top of the computer consoles. He picked up the annotations Billy made and went over them once again while Alpha oversaw the newest run of the scanning algorithms.

“ Alpha, how exactly did this work?”, he finally addressed the little automaton, screwing his eyes shut for a moment. He felt like the endless streams of data were starting to burn into his retinas.

“ Well, when Zordon was initially trapped in the time warp, the crystals of the device that serves to project him back into our reality were fine-tuned to his life-signs.”, Alpha replied with a tilt of his head. “ I am afraid the Green Ranger has completely destroyed that portion of the data.”

“ Couldn’t you reconstruct it?”, Kevin asked with a faint trace of hope.

“ My own backup data storage has been wiped as well by the Green Ranger.”, came the reply which Kevin could only describe as artificially sad. “ I know the search procedure, but cannot recognize anymore the signs that are supposed to be locked on.”

“ Okay so…”, Kevin mumbled in thought. “ Bear with me, we have nothing like this technology on Earth… How do you recognize someone’s life signs without a biological basis?”

“ It is known that each living being also emits a unique complex energetic signature. The same signature is used by the teleportation systems to safely project anyone using it through space without fear of errors. There are some species in the Universe whose method of perception is based solely on seeing such signatures.”, Alpha explained patiently.

“ I think I got it now…”, Kevin remarked, lost in thought. His eyes flew back to the scores of papers that Billy and he had used as a way to bounce ideas back and forth and to jot down interesting patterns. The computer screens showed streams of readouts, at a first glance full of noise. Alpha’s explanation had sparked an idea, and he was now searching for the pattern that he knew had to be there. His hands flew over the keyboard as his eyes tracked down points of interest that were previously dismissed as noise. Among the data that was the existence of so many dimensions, the existence of a single life could be so easily mistook for interference, but Kevin thought he knew better now. The first flickers of life among the crystals in the tube rewarded the dogged persistence of the teen, and slowly but surely Zordon’s life signs were reconstructed bit by painful bit, until finally the tube sprang fully to life as the computer systems fully locked onto the signature of the old sage. Kevin watched with a relieved smile as the face formed once again inside the confines of the tube, with Alpha bobbing enthusiastically next to him.

“ Ay, ay, ay! It is good to have you back, Zordon! ”, the little automaton exclaimed, his electronic voice carrying the happiness he couldn’t display otherwise.

Zordon looked around himself for a moment, as if slightly surprised, taking in the emptiness of the Command Center and the sounds of battle that streamed from the Viewing Globe. “ IT IS GOOD TO BE BACK, ALPHA. ”, his voice boomed once again across the chamber. “ WHERE ARE THE RANGERS? THERE IS MUCH THEY NEED TO KNOW.”

“ They are fighting the Green Ranger.”, it was Kevin that answered, and Zordon looked at the unknown human in surprise. “ But they need help.”

“ I DO NOT KNOW YOU. “, the old sage stated gravely, taking another look at the Viewing Globe and watching as the Rangers struggled to keep the Green Ranger from operating the Dragonzord. The war machine stood quiet for the time being, but that might change at any moment. “ BUT THE MATTER OF YOUR PRESENCE HERE SHALL HAVE TO BE SETTLED LATER. ALPHA, OPEN COMMUNICATIONS TO THE RANGERS PLEASE.”

Kevin just nodded at his dismissal as the little automaton turned around and went about his work.

* * *

Trini grunted with effort as she pulled yet another piece of rubble away, this time remnants of a warehouse which folded onto itself when the tail of the Dragonzord passed through it. The Command Center scanners indicated there was a person buried in the wreckage, and the helmet systems confirmed the existence of a life sign. As she strained to carefully lift the wreckage, she was surprised to find other people abreast of her, doing their part to free whomever was currently buried under the remnants of steel and cement. The sight saddened her: some of the civilians were visibly wounded, others only barely contained the shock that the sudden attack brought on. Even worse, they were heedless of the danger they were placing themselves in, working alongside a Ranger while explosions could be heard in the distance. The blare of the sirens was a distant, hazy thing, barely there to acknowledge the fact that the civil services were on their way. She thought grimly of the war machine that towered over everyone’s heads, currently unmoving, and the fact that if they do not wrap this battle up soon, the authorities will be a third, unwelcome party at this disaster.

A streak of blue caught her eye and Billy materialized near her, to the surprise of the civilians that had started crowding the place.

“ Anything? ”, she called to him, steadying a piece of debris slowly so someone could reinforce it, preventing the mass from shifting onto the hapless man whose upper torso was now visible. Thankfully, he was still alive, but Trini dreaded to think of the aftermath.

“ All clear on my end.”, Billy replied, his voice betraying the relief his face could not show behind the helmet. “ The city alarm minimized casualties, but despite that, there are still some that will not return home.”

“ Black?”, Trini inquired. Zack had not been in communication since they all landed on the city premises. None of them had thought to check in regularly with each other, busy as they were to find what survivors they could: she wondered how Jason and Kimberly were doing.

“ One narrow-band communication before he left range. Three survivors, five casualties.”, Billy replied tightly as he grabbed at a piece of debris, pulling it aside. He did not want to think about losses right now, and he steadily focused onto helping the now visible trapped man. They could not afford more damage than what was already done.

* * *

Zack clambered over the wreckage, listening to the sounds of battle that drew ever nearer as he ran. He had taken a wide arc around the assigned area, and was relied that his patrol route consisted of a lot of Putties on which he could vent his frustration, but no civilian casualties. The buildings surrounding him were mostly intact and the people had successfully fled when they heard the alarm klaxons blare their shrill signal into the air. He was now approaching what he figured was the place where Jason and Kimberly battled against the Green Ranger, his Power Axe humming quietly in cannon mode. Narrow-band communications, a system their suit had for small area communications independently of the Command Center, showed that the Pink and the Red Rangers were in range, but Zack kept quiet. He was all too aware that his attempt to try and talk to his teammates could prove a distraction.

He rounded another street corner as the music from the Dragon Dagger started to play again, and the Dragonzord rumbled to life. Zack had barely gotten in sight of his two teammates, and amidst the shaking ground he steadied himself, bringing the Power Cannon to bear. He instinctively grinned as the shot, the energy equivalent of a shotgun blast compared to Kimberly’s arrows, connected with the Green Ranger’s back. The music stopped, and with it the ground was still.

“ Bet you didn’t see that coming.”, Zack called out, watching the Green Ranger getting unsteadily to his feet. Jason and Kimberly had recovered from where they had been laying, and now the odds were once shifted.

“ I’ll make sure you regret it, Black Ranger.”, Tommy growled back, watching warily the three Rangers circling him.

“ This ends, Green Ranger. Now.”, Jason spoke out harshly, the Power Sword extended in front of him.

“ That’s funny.”, Tommy shot back in a show of overconfidence. “ However did that fool of your mentor think to give you the coin, Red Ranger? Your brother has more spine than you do.He would have killed me by now.”

Jason’s muscles twitched as he played for a moment with the notion of just tossing caution to the wind and skewering the Green Ranger, mind control or not. As he was about to form a reply, the communications line opened, this time the link from the Command Center.

“ RANGERS.”, the voice from the other side of the line caused a smile of elation to appear on every of the five Rangers’ faces. Zordon was back.

“ Zordon!”, Billy’s voice came from the line, surprised and relieved. “ We are gladdened at your return.”

“ THE FEELING IS MUTUAL, BLUE RANGER.”, the old sage replied.

“ We require assistance.”, Billy continued. “ The Zords are non-operational, and we have to contend with the Green Ranger’s Zord.”

Inside the Command Center, Zordon looked at the Viewing Globe showing the stalemate between the four Rangers that could be broken at any second, all the while the ancient war machine loomed over head. “HOLD ON FOR A WHILE LONGER, RANGERS. ”

* * *

For one thing, being trapped in the time warp had its perks: without the limitations of his physical form, Zordon could channel the energy of the Morphin Grid with a lot less effort. And so the old sage closed his eyes, as much for effect as for concentration and searched for that link with the Grid that all Masters had. Generally accessed for forging the items of power that would later be used by the Rangers to access their powers, the Grid energy could also be directed to do other things. Summoned energy raced through the conduits that permeated almost every corner of the Command Center and the Zord Bays, displacing the current provided by the Command Center’s generators and supercharging the materials in its wake. Any being attuned to such a force would see an ongoing rush of energy, streaming from Zordon’s tube along the conduits like so many tendrils towards the Zord Bays. The Zords repair systems were supercharged, technology augmented with living force effecting repairs in time usually deemed impossible even as the power alerts in the main chamber sounded, startling Kevin out of his reverie to the side of the consoles. The console screens streamed Zord information, system diagnostics turning from red onto yellow, then onto green. The Zords were back on track.

* * *

Rita’s eyes snapped away from the telescope contraption she used to privately watch the events on Earth, startled. She looked around herself to see whether any of her underlings noticed her surprised expression, but of the five aliens that served her, only Goldar was in the room, positioned next to the throne, leaning still against the wall. She remembered her last reprimand to the Camian warrior and wondered whether he made a show of not noticing anything for fear of another bout of rage from his mistress, or had he actually mastered the elusive skill of sleeping on his feet. Despite the minor setbacks concerning the Red Ranger and his meddlesome brother, the entire castle had echoed for long hours to the sounds of reverie as they incapacitated the Zords just a few days ago, making the victory against the Rangers and the conquest of the Earth only a formality. She had not approved, taxed as she was with keeping the Green Ranger under her heel. It had been one of the reasons for her recent fury.

Gripping her staff once again, she searched for that feeling that had so jolted her away from observing her final victory. It took her barely any time at all to find it, a disturbance in the Grid so fierce that she could think of only one person capable of causing it. Her face contorted in a scowl: Zordon was back. Sh whipped her staff around at Goldar, startling the alien out of his silence. “ Got down there. NOW!”

* * *

The Green Ranger only barked a curt laugh and vanished in a streak of green as a bright gold light shone on the horizon, revealing an enlarged Goldar. The three Rangers that until that point had the Green Ranger cornered whirled around to see the Dragonzord moving towards them, its tail casually slamming into the remnants of buildings. There was no time to talk as the three Rangers broke into a run, dodging around the debris with the hostile Zord in tow.

“ Trini! Billy! Get moving!”, Jason yelled over the communications line even as he abused all the perks granted to him by the Power to place as much distance between himself and the demise to be had should he get stepped on. Zack and Kimberly were running abreast of him, vaulting and jumping over the obstacles in their path.

Billy froze as he caught the sight of the golden teleportation beam revealing Goldar, and Trini had to nudge him into moving. They funneled people into alleys between the cargo buildings as they ran towards the rest of the team, silently hoping that the avenues of escape would be safe enough for the wounded to evacuate. The small crowd that ran with them thinned out bit by bit, until they were finally alone.

“ Rita finally has us at a severe disadvantage.”, Billy breathed out in resignation, watching as the Dragonzord moved into their field of view.

“ Don’t talk like that.”, Trini replied, her voice a forced calm even as the world seemed to crumble around them. “ Zordon is back. We’ll find a way.”

They finally burst onto one of the main roads, still ahead of the other three Rangers that were running for their lives.

“ Any ideas would be good just about now!”, Zack grumbled into the communication link, voice strained with exertion.

“ The currently viable plan is to teleport to the outskirts of the city.”, Billy answered back as both he and Trini ducked back into an alley, hoping that they were not spotted by the war machine and the giant alien that slowly made his way towards the port area. “ Zordon, we would really appreciate any recommendations at this point.”

In response, the ground under their feet vibrated harder, and the Rangers had to try hard not to stumble while they ran.Through Power-assisted leaps, they landed on the roofs of whatever buildings were still standing in an effort to catch one last glimpse at what could be their end. The sight of the Zords dashing towards them was unexpected, and instinctively they whooped in elation as the war machines automatically entered the transformation sequence that would bring them together into the Megazord. Each of the Rangers found his or her spot in the Megazord, finding renewed hope in the familiar controls that would propel the Megazord forward into battle.

Goldar was the first to recover from the shock of seeing the Zords back in battle. He spread his wings and charged forward, bringing his golden blade to bear. His assault was shortly followed by a barrage of missiles from the Dragonzord. The Megazord stood half-crouched as it presented the Mammoth Shield to the incoming missiles, the Power Sword at the ready at hip length. It was only a moment between the missile impact and Goldar bearing down on them, but the Rangers had managed to turn the arriving alien aside, forcing him to alter his charge by thrusting the Power Sword from behind the shield’s cover. The war machine and the alien general locked swords, but another missile salvo distracted the Rangers from keeping their own against Goldar. They barely held a defensive stance as both the Dragonzord and Goldar closed in on them. It was a small victory that the Megazord, ever backing away, drew the duo away from the city and into the nearby quarry.

Billy frantically looked over the Megazord systems. The Zords were still overcharged from whatever Zordon did to speed up their repair, but the Blue Ranger saw that they were locked in a stand-still.It would last only as long as their power reserves did. They needed to do something, and fast.

“ Jason, now would be a good time for a solid battle plan.”, he voiced his doubts, looking briefly around the Megazord cockpit. His teammates were all intent on their tasks.

“ Our priority is the Green Ranger.”, Jason replied, without taking his eyes away from his station. The Megazord once again parried another missile volley, and then rotated slightly to meet the flurry of blows from Goldar. Each impact was a heavy hit they all felt. “ Zordon, how do we break the spell over him?”

“ THE SPELL OVER THE GREEN RANGER IS ROOTED WITHIN THE SWORD OF DARKNESS.”, Zordon’s answer came clear across the line. “ IF YOU DESTROY IT, RITA’S CONTROL OVER THE GREEN RANGER WILL BE GONE.”

" Right. I have an idea. Split up!", Jason ordered and the detachment sequence initialized. As the rest of the Zords decoupled, Jason took his Tyrannosaurus Zord into a run straight for the Dragonzord. The Dragonzord attempted to pepper the advancing Tyranno with missiles, but Jason had learned a lot from their fights with the Green Ranger, and the Tyrannosaurus answered his commands nimbly, evading the missiles. The Tyrannosaurus used its tail to lash out at the head and one of the arms of the Dragon, before the Dragon retaliated with turning and presenting its own drill-tipped tail. The Tyrannosaurus tumbled heavily to the ground from the resulting hit but Jason managed to wrangle the machine back up just as another hit came aimed at the head. This time the Tyrannosaurus caught the tail and pushed it from itself, followed by a swipe of its claws at the Dragon’s chest. Taking advantage of the disorientation of the Green Ranger, Jason pushed the Tyrannosaurus into a tackle, finally finishing the fight with propping his Zord onto its tail momentarily, allowing it to strike squarely at the Dragonzord with both feet. The Dragonzord went down onto its side, and Jason just barely caught the glimpse of the Green Ranger tumbling out of his Zord. Had he not been morphed, the fall would have surely resulted in grave injury.

Jason left the cockpit of his own Zord, leaving the Tyrannosaurus to silently watch over the empty Dragonzord. The Red Ranger landed gracefully on his feet, Power Sword bared in one hand, and Blade Blaster primed in the other.

" This ends today, Tommy..", Jason restated gravely, looking calmly as the other Ranger picked himself up from the dust.

" You’re right. Your life does end today. ", Tommy spat back at him and summoned both the Dragon Dagger and the Sword of Darkness, then charged with a fierce bellow.

The two engaged in a furious fight, both drawing to the very limit their powers would allow them as their blades crashed with one another. Tommy managed to block the Power Sword with his own sword, and used the Dagger to send a few balls of green energy at point blank range into Jason's chest. Jason rolled on the floor, still retaining his Blade Blaster and then converting it to blaster mode: the Green Ranger had superior protection, but nobody said Jason had to fight fair. He fired a barrage of bolts, careful not to aim anywhere where he could critically injure the other Ranger. The blaster fire had its effect: the Green Ranger had to keep stepping back under fire as the blaster bolts charred the Dragon Shield across his chest. The Green Ranger crouched behind a boulder, brought the Dragon Dagger up and started playing again. The air around him shimmered, and when he stood up again, he was enveloped in a sheath of green energy.

All around them, the air echoed of blasts as the other Rangers took turns at contending with Goldar. The Pterodactyl persistently strafed the alien from high above the air, its blaster shots arcing in the sky and making dents in the alien’s armor. The Triceratops barely held the alien in place as Goldar kept trashing about, harried by the Mastodon and the Sabertooth Tiger. The battle stalled just for a moment when all the combatants got a glimpse of the green energy at ground level, but then resumed in earnest.

“ Okay, what the hell…”, Jason commented tensely as he was confronted with the green energy field. His shots kept bouncing off it, and the Green Ranger now advanced unscathed through the blaster fire.

In the Command Center, Kevin had moved from the spot where he had been leaning at the sight of the battle. He wanted to be down there and help, but knew that his presence would only distract his brother from combat, so he did the only other thing that he could. His hands flew across the keyboard of the main console, with Alpha offering friendly suggestions as the little automaton picked up the human’s intentions. The screen filled with scans of the battle below, and soon it was evident from where the Green Ranger drew his power.

“ Jase, you need to separate him from that damn sword really fast.”, Kevin’s voice echoed in Jason’s helmet, and the Red Ranger grinned. “ He is using it to tap into a whole lot of energy and it doesn’t look like fading any time soon. ”

“ Any ideas?”, Jason shot back good-naturally.

“ The barrier is not yet coming up solid on scan.”, Kevin answered, to the faint background of tapping. “ That might change soon.”

“ Thanks, Kev. You just gave me an idea.”, Jason said with a smile, then willed the communication link shut. He scrambled away from his place of respite just as the Green Ranger brought the Sword of Darkness to bear, launching spheres of green energy towards the Red Ranger. It took all of his effort to weave a path through the ensuing explosions, and a blast that in a split second earlier would have blasted his leg off sent him flying towards where his Power Sword was laying. Grabbing the sword, Jason rolled out of the way as yet another deadly sphere hit the place where he had been just moments before. Focusing on his weapon, he reached for his bond to the Grid. The coin in the guard glowed and he ran a hand along the blade, the blade glowing a bright red as he did so. Time slowed to a crawl as he launched the Power Sword at the Green Ranger. As predicted, the Green Ranger tried to block the blow with both blades on instinct, but the blazing Power Sword went right through, knocking the Green Ranger back and disarming him of both his Dagger and the Sword of Darkness. As soon as the Sword of Darkness broke contact with the Green Ranger, the energy field that protected him dissipated. As the Green Ranger tried to reach the Sword of Darkness again, Jason drew his Blade Blaster and shot at the sword, disintegrating it. The Green Ranger’s form shimmered under the release of the energy caused by the destruction of the sword and seconds later, Tommy was laying in the dust, demorphed and dazed.

Above them, the battle ended quickly once the Green Ranger had fallen. Goldar ripped the chain-links holding him in a fit of rage and fled the field in a flash of gold and black, leaving the Zords to regroup and slowly make their way towards their leader. The Dragonzord righted itself on autopilot, slowly returning to its resting place under the waves, leaving only the empty Tyrannosaurus to watch over the two combatants on the ground. One by one, the Zords emptied as their operators teleported down to the ground, and the automated systems took over, biding the five war machines to return to their bays.

The Rangers silently encircled Jason and Tommy, watching the Green Ranger’s eyes slowly regain their focus. The first thing Tommy saw as a freed man was the Red Ranger towering over him, the face behind the helmet unknowable, with the other Rangers standing behind him at a respectful distance, yet each of them displaying just a hint of apprehension.

“ Wh -”, he started, his voice coming out coarse. “ What happened?”, he finally managed, looking as the Red Ranger shifted ever so slightly.

“ You’re free.”, the Red Ranger answered, the voice coming out distorted.

“ What have I done?”, he asked even as memory reared its ugly head. He could suddenly remember who it was under the helmet. Who were the people around him. And when the haze finally lifted, the magnitude of the atrocities he committed sickened him. He had to steady himself on his arms not to retch.

“ Your actions were not your own. It was Rita’s fault.”, Jason looked at the distressed teen as he answered. He could not imagine what went through Tommy’s head right now. His eyes came to rest on the morpher with the Green Dragon coin resting near his foot, and he lightly bent to pick the object up. He could almost feel the gaze of his teammates on him: the morpher in his hand now felt like the heaviest object in the universe. He closed his eyes and weighted his options, remembering the last few weeks of fighting and the figure of his brother, still bandaged and mending the burn, no doubt waiting for them in the Command Center. Finally, to Tommy’s surprise, he demorphed and offered a hand to the fallen Ranger.

Taking the proffered hand, Tommy got gingerly up, watching as the other Rangers demorphed as well. He did not know what to make of the group that stood around him now. He had hoped to befriend them before the debacle with the Green powers, and now he thought he’d never get the chance. Yet they stood all around him, but the outright rejection he expected to receive was absent. As he tried to speak, to defend himself from the reprimands he thought that would come, a gesture from Jason silenced him.

“ I can’t imagine how this must feel. ”, the Red Ranger stated, looking intently at Tommy. “ But what I do know is that Rita’s attacks hurt us all. And we need all the help we can get. Will you join us, Green Ranger?”, he finished, offering the morpher with his left hand.

Tommy looked at the device, and at the man that offered it to him. The stance, the tone of voice and the question itself spoke of one single thing: forgiveness. He was offered a chance to atone for his deeds. “ Yes, I will.”, he finally answered, taking up the device and pocketing it, then shaking the offered right hand. He barely noticed the rest of the group silently encircling the two, and in seconds the bleak colors of the quarry vanished.

* * *

In the Command Center, Zordon was looking as his chosen team of Rangers appeared in a streak of multicolored lights, never prouder of them than what he was now. The group, which has grown on him as if they were his own children, pulled through this hardship, even when all hope seemed lost. And now, they seemed to find in themselves the nobility to extend the hand of friendship to the very man that had almost killed them all. It would be a rocky road for all of them, but the fact that they started on it just added to the exceptional strength of character that saw them beat Rita time and again. He watched the group break the circle, leaving the Green Ranger to stand alone in the center of the chamber. For his part, the Green Ranger looked disoriented, turning around to take in his surroundings. The moment Tommy laid eyes on the older teen that now stood once again out of the way, they both tensed. Tommy’s expression was one both of surprise and of fear, while the other teen’s body language conveyed a sense of wary hostility. Zordon could recognize protectiveness for what it was.

The old sage made a show of clearing his throat. " RANGERS, YOU HAVE PERFORMED WELL ABOVE EXPECTATIONS. IN THE FACE OF THE GREATEST DANGER YET YOU CAME OUT TRIUMPHANT. EACH OF YOU HAD SHOWN EXCEPTIONAL ABILITY IN YOUR FIELDS OF EXPERTISE, AND YOU HAVE NOT LOST HOPE WHEN ALL SEEMED LOST. FOR ALL THAT, I AM PROUD OF YOU." Each of the Rangers beamed as his words and the sense of relief was almost palpable in the air. Not allowing himself to dwell on the moment, the sage turned his gaze on Tommy, watching the teen shift around. " TOMMY, IN YOU RITA FOUND AN EXCEPTIONAL MATCH FOR THE GREEN POWER COIN AND IT IS YOURS TO BEAR. I HAVE TO NOW PRESENT YOU WITH THE CHOICES BEFORE YOU: I AM OFFERING YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE YOUR PLACE AS THE GREEN RANGER AND ATONE FOR THE DEEDS RITA MADE YOU COMMIT . OR YOU CAN DECLINE, IN WHICH CASE THE COIN AND THE POWER WILL BE STRIPPED FROM YOU AND LAY DORMANT IN WAIT FOR ANOTHER WIELDER. WILL YOU JOIN US, GREEN RANGER?"

Tommy felt all eyes intently on him. This was it. " I will.", he finally answered, and it felt like everyone in the room left a collective breath that they didn’t know they were holding.

" THERE ARE THREE RULES YOU MUST ACCEPT TO WIELD THE POWER: NEVER USE THE POWER FOR PERSONAL GAIN, NEVER ESCALATE A FIGHT AND NEVER REVEAL YOUR IDENTITY TO ANYONE. WILL YOU ABIDE BY THESE RULES?", Zordon continued.

" I will.", the confirmation was followed by a nod.

" THEN WELCOME TO THE TEAM, GREEN RANGER.", Zordon welcomed the newest addition to the team with a smile. The green coin had finally returned to the fold. The welcome was met by something the old sage could only describe as silent relief.

Jason took silently to the background, exchanging knowing glances with his brother and smiling, a weight finally leaving his shoulders. He left the floor to the rest of his teammates, who welcomed the new member of the team with smiles and pats on the back, some more reserved than others. The adrenaline that had pushed all of them for the past week had finally subsided, giving way to tiredness that each of the Rangers felt in their own way. Zordon would have wanted nothing more than send the Rangers on their way to a rest well deserved, but there was one other thing he needed to clarify.

“ THERE IS ONE MORE MATTER, RANGERS.”, the sage boomed, jolting the group out of their reverie. “ THERE HAD BEEN NO TIME BEFORE, BUT NOW I ASSUME THERE IS A GOOD REASON A CIVILIAN STANDS AMONG US TODAY.”

Jason stepped back among the group, beckoning Kevin to come closer. “ Zordon, allow me to introduce my brother, Kevin.”

Kevin slightly bowed to the sage. During the battle, they had not talked: it would have been a distraction. “ Pleasure to meet you.”

“ YOU WILL HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IT WAS VERY SURPRISING TO FIND A CIVILIAN HERE WHEN MY CONNECTION WITH THE COMMAND CENTER WAS RE-ESTABLISHED.”, Zordon explained. “ WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE?”

Billy spoke up, his eyes tracking the Green Ranger on the other side of the chamber. “ I brought him here.”, he finally explained. “ We had trouble finding you, and I sorely needed a second opinion on how to proceed.”

“ BLUE RANGER, WHILE I APPRECIATE THE SERVICE HE RENDERED, SUCH AN ACT PLACES YOU IN A PRECARIOUS POSITION AS YOU HAVE POSSIBLY VIOLATED ONE OF THE RULES.”, Zordon stated, disturbed. He did not want to see the return of the Green Ranger to the team just for him to have to lose the Blue Ranger, especially one so bright and capable as Billy.

“ It was not his fault. “,Kevin came to stand straight in front of Zordon, measuring the sage in the same way he had seen the sage size him up. Two could play that game. When Zordon gave only a nod for him to continue, Kevin recounted his encounters with the Green Ranger, and through them his discovery of the fact his brother was the Red Ranger. When he finished, he stepped back, leaning casually against one of the consoles. He could see Tommy absentmindedly rubbing at a spot on his arm: it gave him an odd sense of pride to know that the Green Ranger still very much felt the consequences of their last fight.

Zordon turned to Billy, inclining his head ever so slightly. “ MY APOLOGIES, BLUE RANGER. IN LIGHT OF WHAT HAPPENED, YOUR CHOICE TO BRING KEVIN INTO THE GROUP’S CONFIDENCE WAS JUSTIFIED.”

“ Damn right it was.”, it was Zack who shot out the comment with a grin. All of the group had clustered around Billy, to show that they were standing by their teammate no matter what, and the girls could not help but chuckle at Zack’s tone while Jason put on an amused expression.

“ I HAVE TO ADMIT I HAVE NOT SEEN ANYONE BRAVE OR FOOLHARDY ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE A RANGER FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AND IT HAS BEEN EVEN LONGER TO SEE SOMEONE WITHOUT THE POWER TO WIN SUCH A CONFRONTATION.”, Zordon remarked with a sigh. “ I AM CERTAIN THAT, SHOULD YOU WISH IT, THE RANGERS COULD PUT SOMEONE WITH YOUR SKILLS TO USE.”

“ Whenever you think you’d need me, just say the word.”, Kevin replied with a smile.

“ Just not any time soon.”, Trini shot back calmly. “ Not with that burn.”

The rest of the group, excluding Tommy, burst into laughter. Serious though the comment was, in a way it brought everything back into its place, and with this each of the Rangers felt the crisis truly end.

“ Okay guys, I think we all deserve some rest.”, Kimberly quipped in, taking in how everyone around her looked exhausted now that the worst had passed. She knew she felt like she could sleep for days.

“ The Zords still need to be checked over after the latest battle.”, Billy retorted, looking at where the readouts were still streaming on the console screens.

“ Billy, they can really wait.”, Kimberly gave her teammate a pat on the shoulder. “ You’re the first one that needs a good chunk of sleep. Don’t think we didn’t notice.”

“ Kimberly is right, Billy.”, Alpha joined in, moving to the consoles and removing the readouts from view. “ Get some rest, Rangers.”

Conceding the point, the group vanished in a massive streak of multicolored light, leaving Zordon and Alpha alone. As the little automaton worked at the consoles, doing his part in ensuring the Zords would be ready for the next battle, Zordon smiled to himself. His Chosen kept surpassing his wildest expectations, and now with the team strengthened by the addition of a new Ranger, he optimistically thought that nothing Rita could bring to bear now could possibly cause them more trouble than what had already happened. Only time will tell how wrong he was.


	4. Illusion and Trust

The next few weeks after Tommy joined the team went by almost quietly. Rita’s attacks, barring one, seemed to be almost half-thought out, and while that made for easy work for the Rangers, Zordon always kept an eye out for the worst. The group took the attacks in stride, slowly easing up into working as a six-person team.

Jason, as the team's leader, had his hands full. After the face off with the Green Ranger, he was goaded into harder training by Kevin. While he had often looked at Kevin’s approach to his chosen martial disciplines with apprehension, he couldn’t deny that it was effective. Anything that had you hold your own against a morphed Ranger had to be. When it came to the Green Ranger, Jason had almost instantly befriended the new teammate, despite his doubts and misgivings. He took his time to aid the Green Ranger in healing the aftermath of the mind control spell: slowly, Tommy had opened up about the trauma he was suffering. The fact that their fates had seem so intertwined during Tommy’s enslavement served to strengthen the bond of friendship they had started to form after that fateful competition. They seemed to complement one another in fighting styles and had tried to compete at the Team Ninja Tournament, and their yet-undeveloped teamwork had then taken the brunt of Rita’s only serious attack, intended to drive them apart. It had failed.

Kevin, however, did not share his brother's more or less forgiving views. The older teen had remained mistrusting of the Green Ranger and used every excuse he could find to not associate with the newcomer to the Rangers’ group. As much as he’d want to, Kevin couldn’t shake the fact that every time he looked at Tommy, the memory of his brother bleeding on the Command Center medical cot resurfaced, and with it cold anger. When he was not training or studying for his upcoming finals, he found another interest in exploring the technology of the Command Center and helping out during attacks. Whenever an attack happened in the populated areas of the city, if Zordon judged the situation in the Command Center in hand, the old sage would send the older teen to aid the civilian populace. Almost naturally taking charge if nobody else could, Kevin would try and ease the evacuation from the combat zone until any of the government forces arrived, sometimes as a voice in the crowd, sometimes as distraction against Putties. Among the inevitable panic nobody suspected a thing.

Billy remained shy for the time being in front of the new Ranger. Tommy had been a sore spot for the young genius: he had taken it hard when Jason had almost died in the Dark Dimension. Now that Tommy was on their side, Billy still did not know what to make of the other teen. Both teens were awkward around each other, acutely aware of the gap between them. At the same time he looked forward to the times he was spending with Kevin in the Command Center. He was able to discuss technology at length with Kevin, who proved to be a good and quietly enthusiastic partner in working on the Command Center systems and helping him test his inventions and optimizations to the existing gadgets. He had a person who, while not his equal, could reasonably well help him bounce ideas around and provide a helping hand with experiments when needed.

Trini remained calm and almost unreadable towards the new addition to the team, her demeanor one of quiet warmth. She had noticed that despite the fact they’ve gone through several battles together, the group was still wary around the Green Ranger, and his own loner attitude did not help matters. However, she couldn’t dispute that Tommy's sadness and guilt towards what he had done was genuine, especially when she'd catch him looking regretfully at Jason and Kevin, both of them bearing scars of deadly battles that none of them will ever forget. All she could do is hope that time would mend the damage done to Tommy, and that her and the rest of the group would be able to help him on the road to redemption.

Kimberly found herself taking easily to the new Ranger. With her outgoing demeanor, she had hoped to erode Tommy’s reticence, which was not a small task. It was her that tried the most to include him in group activities, with variable success. The times when her efforts would bear fruit were the most rewarding of all: the group as a whole seemed to forget the lingering tension between them for that moment and she could see their new teammate relaxing around them. At other times, Tommy’s stubbornness frustrated her to no end, but she never let that bring her down.

Zack, always mischievous and easygoing, found it easy to use that facade of boundless energy to keep the Green Ranger guessing. On one hand it was very easy to offer a hand of friendship to the newcomer, and Zack did it with a smile. On the other hand, it was almost by unspoken agreement that he became the watchman of the group, keeping a careful eye on Tommy in battle. More than once he had to stop the Green Ranger from recklessly charging into something that would most probably turn him into roasted meat. His private suspicions had been tempered both by Tommy’s almost zealous attempts to prove himself to the team and by his asocial behavior when not in battle. Only time would tell where the proverbial coin would fall.

* * *

 

It was wrong of the Rangers to think themselves safe. Rita mused on that as she observed the group go through yet another typical Earthen work day. They had brushed her last few attacks aside with too much ease, but then the witch was not really giving her best. She was still recovering from the debacle with the Green Ranger, which had left her drained and one powerful artifact short. She had chided herself for not taking notice of the Red Ranger’s closer family sooner: his brother had put a sizable wrench into her plans, and all because the Green Ranger had been careless. But in turn, the youth had brought himself into focus in a rare display of combat mastery which Rita planned to fully exploit. All she had needed was a distraction.  
The throne room echoed from the footsteps of an armored courier, who had arrived scant minutes before to deliver an important package to the Moon Palace. The enthralled humanoid had been escorted out of the room by both Goldar and Scorpina, who returned moments later and took positions next to the throne. The bundle now lay next to the book stand where Rita kept her spell book, an ancient leather-bound tome that had been in her possession from before her imprisonment on the Moon. Rumor was it that she had inherited the book from one of her previous mentors. The book had been carefully opened to a specific page as her eyes surveyed the complicated diagrams depicted therein. Around them, swirling around in her own neat cursive, were words of power that, when used alongside the rest of the spell components that she had just received, would unchain a power the likes of which the Rangers had never heard about, let alone seen. Rita had vowed that in comparison to this, the Green Ranger incident would seem a minor inconvenience.

" Goldar. Scorpina.", she called and the two warriors stepped forward uncertainly and bowed.

" Your command?", Scorpina inquired, curiosity lacing her voice. Whatever Rita was planning, the urgency with which Rita had gotten the bundle that now laid next to her had cost her quite a few favors.

The witch leaned over her tome, her fingers tracing along the ancient parchment in reverence. “ This package contains the last components of the ara’mal ritual.”, she stated solemnly, to which the two warriors visibly paled. “ Along with it, I have found the perfect location in which to use it. All we need is a ‘volunteer’.”

Goldar glanced over at Scorpina with an eyebrow raised and took in her startled face. They had both heard of the ritual Rita was talking about, but they never expected to see it. Warlocks attempting it had an unusually bad reputation, and its results were hushed up by both sides alike. The two warriors did not relish finding out why.

" Look down there.", Rita motioned with her hand towards the blue planet that filled the horizon outside the Palace, ignoring the surprised glances that her two subordinates exchanged. " The Rangers are being careless. We will make them see the error of their confidence."

" What would you have us do, Empress? ", Goldar asked, carefully measuring his words. This seemed like a very desperate ploy on the witch’s part.

" Scorpina, visit Finster. He should have a vial ready for you. Once you have it, report back.", Rita ordered and watched Scorpina take a shallow bow, to shortly disappear behind the grand obsidian doors to the throne room. As Scorpina’s steps faded, Rita turned to Goldar. “ I shall make for you a device that will transport the Rangers to the Island of Illusion. While they are busy there, we can proceed with the next phase of the plan.”

The golden warrior just bowed in acknowledgment and moved aside as Rita moved in the middle of the throne room, staff planted firmly in front of her. As she started to chant, the staff gem started to glow and wisps of energy swirled around, coalescing into a solid orb.

* * *

Kimberly back-flipped and landed softly on the grass, arms raised at shoulder height. She enjoyed doing the free-form routines in the park, and today had been perfect for it. The group had decided to use their free time to organize an impromptu picnic as a way to usher another weekend. Closest to her was Billy, sitting contently in the shade of the great tree under which the teens had laid out their picnic, engrossed in a science book. Every now and then the sandy-haired teen would raise his head slightly and adjust his glasses, to then return to reading. The second closest to them was Trini, who alternated between giving Kimberly some help with her routines and painstakingly practicing her chosen martial art, Mantis Kung-Fu. The guys were sparring on the clearing, alternating between match-ups: currently it was Jason and Tommy’s turn, with Zack sitting at the side, sipping from a water bottle. The African-American was looking critically at the two boys circling around. The match had stalled after the initial hearty clash.

“ How’s your science experiment going?”, Kimberly asked, sitting down next to Billy and grabbing a plastic container from the picnic spread. From it she casually plucked an apple, and placed the container back on the cloth.

“ I believe Mr. Davis will be very satisfied with the project results next week.”, Billy replied, barely taking his eyes off the book he was holding. Kimberly just smiled at the comment: the usually grumpy science teacher had a soft spot for the young genius which Billy justified by continuously awing the class with his projects.

“ It definitely helps that we’ve had so much free time the past couple of weeks.”, Trini joined in the conversation, sitting down next to Kimberly.

“ Rita does seem more of a nuisance than a threat lately.”, Billy had to concede the point. He briefly glanced at where the guys were sparring, witnessing Jason evading just barely a roundhouse kick and placing a well-controlled punch into Tommy’s abdomen. The other teen seemed to take it in stride, and the two boys took their position again while Zack served as a referee.

Suddenly, the sky seemed to darken a little bit as the clearing became dotted with teleportation streaks, revealing Putties in their wake. The clay henchmen swarmed around the surprised teens, taking clumsy swings with their boulder-like hands. The three guys sparring sprang immediately into action, doing their best to repeal their attackers.

“ Now that we mentioned it…”, Kimberly commented with a smirk as she bounced upward, her gymnastics proficiency carrying her to be the first of the other three into the fray. Trini and Billy were right behind her, the latter having haphazardly discarded his book on the picnic cloth. The ensuring melee was completely chaotic: the Putties did their best to collide with the Rangers, trying to herd them into a circle, while the group tenaciously fought back. Amids the ruckus, none of the Rangers noticed another teleportation streak appear just outside the circle, revealing Goldar carrying a bright golden globe. The alien tossed the globe into the air, and it stood hovering above the Rangers like an ethereal disco ball. All the Rangers could do was push back at the Putties while tendrils of energy emanated from the globe and swirled around them, creating a golden barrier. Goldar just presented a fanged grin as the globe gave one last pulse and it and the Rangers disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

Grunts filled the air as cloth rustled with movement. One kick followed another in fluid movement, striking imaginary weak points. Finally, the last strike was accompanied by a hearty yell, a kiai shout that would startle a real opponent, but here it just marked the end of a series. Feeling satisfied with the workout, Kevin finally dropped onto the grass, sitting cross-legged next to his backpack and pulling out a water bottle. The martial arts workouts were his way to unwind, especially in exam season, but following the events that led him to get entangled with the Rangers, he appreciated more than ever the emphasis on real combat his sensei put in his training. It often got him battered and bruised, but it got the job done. His hand went over his shoulder: the burn had healed, thanks in no small part to the technology of the Command Center, but there was still a lingering discomfort present which he expected would go away soon.

The snap of a twig jolted him from his reverie and he sprang on his feet and turned around to see Goldar approaching him from the woods. The gold-clad alien marched towards him grinning, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Kevin put up a token guard stance, quite unsure what to make of his opponent. Reaching a quick decision, he sprung after his backpack, only to meet the tip of Goldar’s sword extended into his face.

“ Is that any way to greet another warrior?”, the camian taunted, making the teen backtrack awkwardly. “ I did not figure you out for a coward.”

“ What do you want?”, Kevin growled back, forcing himself into an eased battle stance. His eyes followed the alien’s movements, looking for the much needed opening that would allow him to disarm his opponent.

“ Rita has requested your presence. ”, Goldar replied, forcing the teen back for another couple of steps. He knew what the boy was capable of, and it delighted him to no end to keep this stalemate. Moments later, the stalemate was broken as Kevin launched himself at the alien, feinting and juking around, desperately trying to deflect the sword enough for him to score hits that would enable him to reach the communicator in his bag. Goldar was taken by surprise at the strength of the blows as some of them landed at their intended targets, and used his bulk to pressure the teen into backing off.

“ Don’t waste my time.”, Goldar remarked as he shook his arm: several hits had been concerning. He shifted the sword into his other hand and flexed his fingers to get back the feeling in them. The boy had certainly proved his mettle.

Kevin tensed back up as he prepared for another attempt at rebuffing the gold-clad alien back, but stood still just a second as Goldar gave a faint nod. Another taloned hand enveloped itself around his neck, all the while he saw something prehensile and clad in golden armor wrap itself around his torso, tightening itself, and slowly forcing air out of him: a tail. A needle jabbed itself into the side of his neck and he felt the pressure of injecting liquid pass through the needle and into his veins. As the compound spread all over his body, he felt his heart racing and air failing to enter his lungs, after which the world went black. The body crumpled to the ground, finally released from the restraints that were holding it. Goldar stood uncertainly over the limp body, glancing at Scorpina as she returned the injection back to a pouch fastened around her belt.

“ Is he dead?”, the camian asked, crouching over and running a taloned hand over the teen’s neck.

“ No, just unconscious.”, Scorpina replied with a smirk. “ Keild distills into a potent sedative. I am surprised Finster had any.”

“ Hope you’re right with the dose.”, Goldar grumbled, hoisting the body on one of his shoulders. “ You mess this up, Rita will have our hides.”

“ Let’s just get out of here.”, Scorpina remarked with disdain and both aliens vanished in a streak of black light.

* * *

The Command Center was abuzz with activity as warning klaxons echoed through the main chamber in the wake of the attack in the city. Alpha practically bounced between the console holo-screens, in vain trying to make sense of the image on the Viewing Globe and the consequent readouts.

“ Ay yi yi! The Rangers have vanished.”, the little automaton bemoaned as he started the scan for the Rangers. Slowly but surely, the area scans failed, followed by the one at city level, then region, and finally, after a long half an hour passed, the planet-wide scan failed. Scanning known pocket dimensions connected to this reality would take even longer.

“ CONTACT JASON’S BROTHER AT ONCE.”, Zordon was stern. The sage did not like this kind of attack on his Chosen. “ WE NEED EVERY HELP WE CAN GET NOW.”

Alpha pressed a few buttons, but as seconds passed and no teleportation streak came, the little automaton grew even more agitated: “ Zordon, he is not responding!” Another few button presses made the image on the Viewing Globe shift, now showing only an empty clearing, a backpack resting abandoned next to a gnarled old tree. Another localized scan revealed that there was no human presence in a five-hundred meter radius.

“Ay yi yi… This is not good…”, Alpha only managed to comment as the old sage sank into foreboding thoughts.

* * *

Jason rubbed his eyes to chase away the afterimages as the light faded, revealing an unfamiliar environment. He looked around himself in cautious bewilderment: one moment he was fighting alongside his friends, trying to prevent the Putties from pinning them down, and the next he was…here. He wasn’t exactly sure where that was. Trees loomed over him, ancient and gray, their leaves a color he never saw before. His muscles stiffened when he saw that he was alone: the last time that happened it didn’t bode well for him. He checked himself for his morpher, but once again found the device missing. Forcing himself not to give in to the rising feeling of paranoia and panic, he picked and direction and stepped into the forest that surrounded him.

The deeper he went into the forest, the more wary he became. He nudged away branches hanging low, all the while twigs crunched underfoot, and he started noticing telltale signs that someone had been here. Ahead of him branches were broken and several of the tree trunks were scarred, as if someone mauled them. Laughter suddenly echoed among the trees and Jason spun around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. His eyes widened as he saw Goldar striding towards him, sword drawn. This time, the two didn’t stop to trade words, and Jason sidestepped as the blade passed inches from his chest. This was a repeat performance he did not need.  
Deftly using the trees as makeshift cover, Jason backtracked, trying to put as much distance between himself and the gold-armored alien. Catching a blur of movement in the corner of his eye, Jason allowed himself to turn his head, catching the glimpse of the morphed Green Ranger. With a grin of elation, Jason sprung towards the Ranger, dashing among the trees all the while Goldar wordlessly charged at him.

“ Tommy, heads up!”, Jason yelled, almost colliding with the Green Ranger just leaning against a tree. “ I need a hand!”

To his surprise, the Green Ranger just laughed, not moving a muscle. “ You still haven’t figured it out, did you?”, the Green Ranger’s tone was mocking. “ Rita has won. All it took was to rely on your weakness to allow me to infiltrate the team. Be seeing you, ‘fearless leader’. ”

Jason could only gape in surprise as something metal hit him in the back of the head, and the world went dark.

* * *

The sound of water lapping at the shore and the scent of sea water coaxed her gently, and Kimberly awoke on the beach. She awkwardly sat up, wiping grains of sand from her shirt as she looked around herself in confusion. Spotting the outline of the city to the north, she figured she had somehow gotten to one of many wild beaches that extended above and below the Angel Grove proper, and that in itself did wonders to bring back her confidence. Remembering the fight she and her friends were entangled in, it did not surprise her that she didn’t see anyone: Rita had probably scattered them in an effort to confuse them. Getting confidently on her feet, she started walking towards the distant city outline.

It took a mere ten minutes of walking for Kimberly to finally meet someone, but the encounter was not a good one. Scorpina stood in front of her, with sunlight shining off her golden plate and tail almost casually lashing around her body. The alien seemed to perk up when she saw the demorphed Pink Ranger approaching her carefully, but the grin on her face was anything but welcoming.

“ Just who I’ve been searching for.”, Scorpina called out, taking measured steps to approach the Pink Ranger.

“ Where are the others?”, Kimberly asked with no pretense, holding her ground. Her hands felt behind her back, but the spot where her morpher usually rested was empty. The petite brunette did not let that discourage her.

“ Oh, here and there…”, Scorpina answered, tracing a finger along the blade of her sword. “ I’ll make sure they’re the last thing on your mind.”

As Kimberly braced for the inevitable attack, a blaster shot flew past Scorpina’s head, dissipating into the ground nearby. Both of them turned to see the Red Ranger standing there with his Blade Blaster at the ready. Scorpina rounded on the newcomer in anger, springing forward with the blade bared. Kimberly could only helplessly watch as Scorpina pushed back the Red Ranger over and over again, cursing at herself for not having her morpher. The Blade Blaster scraped against the alien’s sword over and over again all the while Scorpina’s tail stabbed at the Ranger’s torso, looking for a weak point. It took only a miscalculation and the stinger buried itself into the Red Ranger’s abdomen and then retracted, leaving the body to fall down. Scorpina disappeared in a streak of black while Jason twitched on the floor, the armor dissipating. Kimberly rushed over, kneeling next to her fallen friend and putting his head on her knees.

“ Jason! ”, she called his name almost hysterically, “ Just hold on! I’ll help…”

She had started to take her shirt off, intent on stemming what she could of his wound, but he put a hand on hers to stop her. “ It’s okay Kim…”, he coughed out, managing a small smile, “ Listen, you should know… I love you, Kimmie. Always have, always will.”

“ Jason, don’t you dare…”, she started stubbornly, unsure what to reply. For all of her tenacity she could only watch as he faded, giving her one last smile and then closing his eyes. His chest stopped rising and she felt his muscles go limp. Numbly she got onto her feet and looked around herself, yet not really seeing what was around her. Her brain was barely processing his last words. She had never consciously thought of him as anything more than the big brother she never had, but there it had been, in small gestures, the potential for something deeper. The feelings were mutual, and it took this keen sense of loss to bring them to the foreground. She couldn’t imagine herself without Jason figuring in that picture. She took one last look at the body then turned to the city outline, numbly taking step after step, willing herself to move. A light reflection ahead of her caught her eye: she traced her fingers across the sand to reveal her morpher half-buried in it. She looked numbly at the device, pocketing it. As she forced herself to carry on and search for the rest of her friends, she never through to look behind her. The body had vanished as if had never been there.

* * *

Tommy woke on a clearing, and as he got up, he couldn’t fail to notice he was morphed. His visor streamed jumbled information that he could not place and he made a note to ask Billy to fix his suit systems as soon as he could. Hoisting himself on his hands, his eyes widened in terror to see the usually white gauntlets stained with red. Upon closer inspection, his golden shield seemed sprayed with the thick red liquid, and Tommy almost numbly took off a gauntlet, running his fingers across the nearest smudge on his chest. The mere presence of blood on his fingers sickened him. He looked around himself in abject terror, for the first time taking in the bodies that were strewn around him, mauled by sword slashes.Closest to him was Kimberly, her face echoing the last surprise she ever had. Zack and Jason were next, both of them showing a last sign of defiance. Billy was found leaning against a tree and Trini was not far off, her own face frozen in an odd sense of calm. Tommy clutched his head: the scene had been plucked out of his worst nightmares and into reality. He spun around frantically when he heard slow clapping. Goldar was standing on the side of the battlefield with a satisfied grin on his face.

" You performed well, Green Ranger. Rita will be pleased. ", he stated with open pride, “ We shall be waiting for you at the Palace.”

Tommy sank to his knees as the alien disappeared, turning away from the bodies. This had to be fever dream. When he finally got up, the faint rustling of the leaves made him turn around in surprise. Kevin now stood where Goldar had been, arms crossed across his chest and an unvoiced accusation in his eyes. Tommy could barely flinch when the other teen broke into a run and tackled him, propelling him backwards in a furious charge. As he collided with a tree, the world went black.

* * *

Billy opened his eyes tentatively and found himself laying in the dust, with spots of light just barely penetrating the tree canopy that stretched in all directions. It was the eerie silence that had surprised him. The last thing he remembered was fighting the Putties off with his friends, and the absence of any kind of ruckus that usually accompanied said fighting told him more than words ever could even before he opened his eyes. It took only a moment for him to get up, dust himself off and set off to try and find the rest of the group. Along the way, he took the sights around him in fascination. The alien flora had piqued his interest, but the complete absence of any kind of fauna worried him. 

His examination of one of the more peculiar trees was interrupted when something hit him to the side, launching him sideways onto the ground, followed by the familiar nonsensical sounds of Putties. Getting up quickly, Billy prepared to fend them off, chiding himself for not paying attention to his surroundings more: he was taught better than that. Rita must have gotten a perfect drop on him, seeing as the Putties teleported almost on top of him. However, this fight was turning to be quite different than what the young genius was used to. No matter how much he tried to hit them, the Putties moved too fast. In desperation, Billy backtracked and tried to get his morpher, instead finding empty air instead of the small device that should have been clipped tightly to his belt.  
One of the Putties clipped him on the leg, causing him to fall onto his knees, and then swept a wide blow to his head, which Billy barely parried but was completely knocked back onto the ground. He saw the Putties circling around him, unable to do anything else to defend himself as his limbs felt like lead. He suffered far too many hits. Suddenly he saw two people running up to him. With elation, he recognized Jason and Zack as the two rammed into the Putties with vigor. It took mere seconds before the fight was over, the henchmen turned into dust. With a wide grin, Billy forced himself up and limped towards his friends.

" I am grateful for your assistance. The Putties had me in a tight spot there.", he thanked the two boys, but was waved off by Zack. The two teens were turning to leave.

" Told you he was useless.", Zack remarked, leaving Billy speechless.

“ Let’s get going.”, was Jason’s curt reply as the two boys made to leave. Billy had frozen on the spot: the tone of voice coupled with the almost concealed glance of annoyance from Jason spoke wonders. As the two boys vanished among the foliage, Billy dropped back down on the ground, propping himself on his elbows and letting out a dejected sigh. Could that be what his friends have been thinking about him all along? Had he really been that inept without the Ranger powers to fall back on? Or was this one of Rita’s ploys? He wasn’t sure. Jason had been one of his oldest friends, but the absence of any kind of friendly emotion as he had said those words had hurt. A glint of metal took his interest, and as he approached the bush where he spotted it, he saw his morpher laying there discarded. He took the device up and ran his fingers across the coin almost bitterly, then clipped it back to his belt. Finally reaching a decision, he chose a direction and moved onward, step by step. He would succeed on his own.

* * *

Trini woke up to the sound of laughter. Hoisting herself onto her elbows, she squinted into the glinting figure whose voice so abruptly greeted her. Scorpina stood there, arms folded over her chest, and Trini was surprised the alien didn’t attack. Around her, Puties shifted around restlessly, only held in place by a mere command. It took Trini only a moment to get up and tentatively get her hands up in a guard stance. As she did that, the full scope of her trouble became evident: several feet away from her was a cliff edge, and she had nowhere to go but forward.

“ The Yellow finally came to.”, Scorpina remarked with a smirk, unfolding her arms lazily. Her tail flickered around in anticipation. “ This is going to be fun.”

Trini forced herself to calm down: her heart was hammering in her chest as a fear she thought she overcame returned in force. “ You’re not keeping me here, Scorpina.”

“ So sure.”, the alien licked her lips. She unsheathed her crescent sword almost carefully, as if savoring the upcoming fight.

Trini gritted her teeth and launched herself forward, but instead of charging straight into Scorpina, she tried to plow through the Putties. The gray henchmen closed ranks as Trini saw that there were far more of them than she initially thought. They formed a constantly shifting living wall that, along with the cliff edge on all other sides, trapped her with Scorpina. A death match arena. A tail lash caught Trini by the ankle and spun her around, making her drop face down into the dirt. When she looked up, Scorpina beckoned at her with an open palm, twirling the crescent blade casually. Regaining her footing, Trini dropped yet again into a cautious fighting stance, one eye warily on the yawning chasm that opened to her side. Her hand reached behind her back, only to find her morpher missing from its usual resting spot, and a knot tightened itself in her stomach. With no Power and no weapons to even remotely balance the odds, Trini had to quash down the feeling of being exposed. When the sword strike came, she ducked and weaved around, bringing her knowledge of Mantis Kung-Fu to bear. She weaved in and out of close range, but slowly and surely maneuvering room was getting less. A tail swipe finally brought her to the very brink, and she came face to face with Scorpina. It took only a push of a hand to send Trini over the edge of the cliff. She didn’t get to feel the impact on the ground as unconsciousness claimed her.

* * *

As he came awake, Zack started coughing. The last thing he remembered was a vicious blow by one of the Putties that had caught him square in the chest as the world vanished in a flash of light. Feeling the grass under his fingers, he cautiously got up, taking in his surroundings. He was standing in the shadow of a tree, at the very edge of where the forest met a mountain range. In comparison, the mountain felt barren and devoid of life, and looked too steep to climb. Taking a deep mouthful of air and checking for injuries, Zack finally set off. He was unsure where the rest of his friends could be, but by his whereabouts, Zack surmised that whatever waited ahead was not going to be pretty or easy. Once again, Rita pulled out all the stops on her attack, and Zack could only frown at the thought of the damage the city must be suffering with them away.

He followed the line of the mountain, unsure to venture into the thick forest. As he walked, he hummed a quiet melody to himself: the silence unsettled him. When finally a shriek came from farther away, it shattered the silence like a gunshot and startled Zack out of his thoughts. Recognizing the voice, he broke into a run. The shriek gave way to yells and grunts that pierced the air. Zack could tell the sounds of battle when he heard them. He skidded to a halt in front of a cave: its walls resonated with sound. Instinctively, Zack reached behind his back, but found nothing. His morpher was gone. The entrance into the tunnel gave him pause: webs heavily covered its entrance, swaying in the wind. It seemed unlikely anyone ever came through here without at least disturbing the spider webs, but the human and alien voices alike came clear. Finally gathering his courage, he ventured forth, shaking off the webs that stuck to his shirt and skin as he passed.  
When he finally emerged into the wide cavern, breath caught up in his throat for the second time today. The room was barely lit with torches, casting a paltry light onto the fight between the rest of the teens and Goldar and Scorpina. When he finally stepped inside the room, nobody paid him any attention, busy as they were with fighting for their lives. The only one not involved was Tommy, who was standing tensely next to the nearest wall.

“ What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”, Zack rounded angrily on the teen clad in green.

“ What do you think?”, Tommy answered in a hushed voice. “ There’s no use fighting them. We’ve lost.”

Zack pulled the other teen by the shirt and shoved him in the doorway. “ Have we? We’ve only lost if we let them win.”

Tommy brushed Zack’s hands aside, straightening himself. “ I plan to survive.”, he growled back. “ And if survival means serving Rita, I’ll take it.”

“ So all of this time we’ve been sheltering a fucking coward.”, Zack spat and took a surprise swing at Tommy, which the teen reflected badly. The scuffle that ensured was only so vicious as allowed by the narrow corridor. The two entangled in the spider webs as they fought, stumbled and tripped over the jutting stalagmites. Zack vented his frustration and his shame: he had extended his friendship to the other teen, and this kind of repayment was not expected. His opponent, however, offered only a token of a fight, and fought like a man broken. In the end, the effort of the fight did not matter: Zack awkwardly stumbled and slammed into a massive stalagmite half-embedded into the rock wall, and the frustration and shame left him along with his consciousness.

* * *

Kevin groaned as he woke up, still drowsy from the potent sedative he was injected with. His body ached in ways he didn't believe possible, and for a moment he thought he’d been mistaken for a sack of potatoes in the way he’d been handled. The second thing that greeted him was a sense of coldness around his wrists and tension around his ankles, and he angled his head to see his arms bound with thick manacles that chained him to the rocky floor. He took in his surroundings with wide eyes: the cavern in which he found himself was octagonal and wide, with massive pillars holding up a dome of rock. Crystals sat in holders affixed to the pillars, their bright light only barely encompassing the entirety of the place. He noticed alcoves carved into the rock, with altars inset into them, but only one such altar seemed to actually hold something. As he was chained with his feet facing the only entrance to the room, he could only watch as three figures emerged from the darkness.

Rita came first, staff in hand and her gown almost trailing behind her. Goldar and Scorpina came behind her, the two aliens looking wary as their entered the hallowed hall. Both took their positions awkwardly as Rita circled the raised floor where Kevin was chained, surveying their work. She inspected critically the runes inscribed onto the stone on which the teen was laying, and here and there she used her staff to add finishing touches to the work. Finally satisfied, she came to bend almost gently over the helpless teen.

“ So Goldar and Scorpina did something right.”, she mused, bringing up the teen’s chin and observing him critically. “ I hope they didn’t mistreat you… much.”

“ Not like you care.”, Kevin mumbled out. He tried to quench the nervousness that rose in his stomach like sickness: seeing Rita up close and personal was nowhere near the top of his life’s to-do list.

“ Oh but I do. I care about the warriors under my command.”, she purred and the implication sent Kevin’s mind went into panic. As if she could sense it, the witch continued: “ You have shown yourself quite capable. Had I known before, you would’ve had the honor of receiving the Green coin, and not that overconfident traitor. But now we have to proceed differently. ”

“ My Lady, this rite…”, it was Goldar who spoke up, his tone reverential. “ The ara’mal rite is not used for a reason. And you still need to recover from the transport spell.”

Rita rose up with surprising speed. “ You will not cross me on this, Goldar. ”, she pronounced tiredly. “ We go ahead with the rite, and with it we usher a new era. ”

“ Jason and the others will get here to stop you.”, Kevin growled, more for show. “ I am not going to serve you.”

To his surprise, Rita laughed a mirthless laugh. “ By the time they get out of the Island of Illusion, their use of their powers will be so weakened that they would not be able to stop a normal monster. Let alone you when we’re done here. ” She bent again, forcing his head around to look her in the eyes, her nails digging into his skin. “ I do wonder what the Void will find in you. What kind of darkness lurks behind that mask…”

With those words, she straightened up again and started moving around almost with grace, her voice carrying words of power Kevin never heard before. As if answering her call, an ethereal wind picked up. Her staff glowed with dark power as she traced graven runes in the air, her voice never once breaking. Any kind of interruption would have meant their downfall. A torrent of energy connected from her staff to each of the massive crystals in their holders. The room darkened as the crystals took on a sinister black light, the energy interconnecting them growing stronger with each passing second. As a veritable vortex formed, Rita finally gave one last exclamation and the main stream of energy slammed into the teen. Overwhelmed with pain, Kevin screamed.

* * *

For the second time that day, Jason came to, and wondered whether he should have opted to stay in bed instead. Face full of grass and dirt, he got tentatively up, surprised in no small part at the silence that greeted him. Gone were Goldar and the Green Ranger, and in their stead there was only eerie silence. He looked around himself, seeking out signs of the struggle he remembered, but he found nothing. No gouges on the tree bark where he remembered Goldar’s sword swipe. No trace of tracks, nor any other signs that this place was disturbed in any way. Was he going mad? He clearly remembered the exchange, and Tommy’s words had opened doubts he forced himself to dismiss. As his fingers traced the tree bark where he remembered the gouge to be, his eyes caught the glint of metal on the ground, revealed to be his morpher. He clipped the morpher to his belt, idly wondering how it got there.Thanking whatever deity watched over him for small favors, he resolved to re-enter the forest again.

He had lost track of time as he forced his way through the foliage. Finally, his efforts were rewarded by the sight of another person, and Jason allowed himself a grin. Ahead of him, slumped against a tree, Kimberly sat, and his heart sank when he noticed how dejected she seemed. He hurried towards her, and her head snapped up in surprise when she heard the twigs snap. Jason had barely reached her when Kimberly enveloped him in a huge hug and buried her head into his chest, tears of elation streaming from her face.

“ Jason!”, she exclaimed as he slowly hugged her back, uncertain. “ I can’t believe you’re alive!”

“ Kim? What are you talking about?”, he only managed to ask, overwhelmed as he was from her greeting.

“ You don’t know?”, she asked, a shadow of a doubt crossing her face as she finally untangled herself from his embrace. “ We were at the beach, you saved my life from Scorpina. She… She speared you through.”

Jason finally made sense of Kimberly’s reaction and inwardly he cursed Rita and this place. “ Kim, I was in the forest…I was fighting Goldar, but never saw Scorpina.”, he explained, watching as her eyes widened.

“ Then everything I saw was an illusion?”, she asked incredulously. Her heart sank for a moment as she recalled his words on the beach. Were they real or had Rita been toying with them all along?

“ I saw Tommy… He had turned on us.”, Jason explained, his gaze darkening as he remembered the short fight and the host of doubts it had opened. “ I refuse to believe that’s true.”

“ We have to find the others and get out of here.”, Kimberly commented as she looked around herself, seeing the alien environ in a new light. There was more going on than met the eye. Jason just nodded in assent and the two set off, walking side by side, their spirits lifted now that they were together. The dynamic duo since childhood, they could tackle anything together.

* * *

When consciousness returned and Trini felt the grass under her fingers and the steadiness of the ground, it all came as an immense relief, followed by surprise. She looked around herself in disbelief as she carefully moved her muscles. Nothing hurt, and nothing was sprained, yet she remembered the shove that sent her flying over the edge of the cliff. She looked up where the cliff wall loomed over her, but its height was not as she remembered it. It still didn’t explain how she came to be unscathed. As she moved her hands, her fingers brushed against something metallic, and then traced the familiar outlines of her coin. She pocketed the morpher as she got up, and looked over where the sun seemed to be very slowly setting. Giving one last look to the mass of rock in front of her, Trini turned on her heels and entered the forest that bordered the clearing.

She made her way through the foliage, brushing away thorned branches and thick clumps of leaves as she took one wary step after another. She didn’t dare call out, mindful of the silence that permeated the air. After awhile, she slumped against a tree, feeling an overwhelming sense of defeat: she had no way of finding any of her friends, and her stomach tied itself in a knot at the thought. Who knew what Rita was doing to them at this moment. She didn’t know how long she’d been lost in thought like that when a rustle startled her.

“ Trini?”, the voice asking was unmistakably familiar, and Trini found herself grinning.

“ Billy!”, she sprang up at the sight of the sandy-haired teen and enveloped him in a tight hug. When the boy didn’t return any sign of token affection, Trini broke contact and looked him over. “ Are you okay?”

“ I am in the best possible condition considering circumstances.”, he replied, and she thought she saw tension in him. She used to see him that way every time he was bullied, but since they have been given the Power, it had shown less and less as the teen grew in self-confidence.

“ No, you’re not.”, she shot back, giving him a knowing look. “ Talk to me.”

“ There is not much to tell.”, Billy said with a shrug as he dropped into the grass near her. His shoulders sagged. “ I had some Putty trouble on the way.”

“ That can’t be it.”, she remarked, coaxing him to speak more. Mere Putties never had this kind of effect of any of them.

“ Zack and Jason showed up. They were…less than friendly.”, Billy finished, swallowing hard. “ After some unpleasant words, they left, leaving me here.”

“ Billy, there’s no way either Jason or Zack would be mean to you.”, Trini countered, taken aback by his tale. It completely explained why the young genius had retreated back into himself: he thought even his best friends were there out of pity. “ Have you been able to find them?”

“ No.”, Billy admitted. “ I had tried, but navigating this area is like traversing a labyrinth sans walls.”

“ Then let’s find them together.”, Trini stated, bouncing upwards and offering her hand to the Blue Ranger, which he took very shyly. “ This place is not right, and since Rita’s involved…”

Billy nodded in agreement. “ I have to admit her foul play was the last thing on my mind. Probably by intention.”, he conceded as the two started walking. No longer alone, both Trini and Billy thought that things just got a little bit better.

* * *

When Zack finally came it, it was in pitch darkness. He traced his surroundings with his hands, slowly bringing himself to stand up. His back hurt from impact and he felt around the back of his head, then retreating his hand as a spike of pain greeted him. He must have gotten a good concussion when he slammed into the stalagmite. He felt weak and disoriented as he tentatively inched towards the light that was the cave exit, heedless of the remnants of spider webs that stuck to him. When he finally emerged into the light of a setting sun, he bent over, hands on his knees, and took a big gulp of fresh air. The simplicity of the action seemed to steady him, and he gave himself the time to look around himself. His eye catching an outline that wasn’t there before, he moved back to the cave entrance and found his morpher resting embedded between the jagged rock. He pried the device out of its resting place, mystified at how it had gotten there. As his hand brushed against the Mastodon coin, the world seemed a bit clearer, and he could feel his strength returning slowly: the power of the Morphin Grid was starting to do its work.

Deciding to avoid the mountain until further notice, Zack took the first beaten path into the forest, his eyes slowly adjusting to the shadows cast by the trees. He couldn’t tell how long he walked: all he did know is that when he finally came to a clearing, it was a welcome respite from the thorned branches that seemed to be norm around this place. There he got the second surprise of the day: a steady glow came from ahead of him, and as he approached it, he saw it was the light reflected from the Dragon Shield. The Green Ranger was laying unconscious in front of him.  
Remembering his previous encounters, he was wary as he slowly inched towards the unmoving Ranger. He slid his hand slowly into the holster, retrieving the Dragon Dagger and tossing the weapon into the grass. A bit of caution never hurt. He was not sure whether he should even try to help the stricken Ranger given what he found out. His hand moved to disconnect the green morpher, and as he removed the coin and the device from the Green Ranger, the armor vanished, leaving only plain Tommy Oliver in its stead. He barely stepped back when Tommy started coughing violently and Zack moved to lightly shake the other teen.

“ Tommy?”, he asked, his eyes darting around in case there was another trick afoot.

At the sound of Zack’s voice, Tommy’s eyes snapped open. “ Zack ?! You’re alive?”, Tommy’s voice sounded almost hysterical.

“ You left me alive, yes.”, Zack confirmed, eyes narrowing suspiciously. His muscles tensed in habit: he wouldn’t be caught unaware.

“ I saw you laying there. You were …”, Tommy had scrambled to sit up, looking frantically around himself. The clearing was empty. “ I saw everyone…Bodies…”, he was almost panicking again.

“ Calm down, man.”, Zack scoffed. This took a very different turn of events. In the cavern, he had seen Tommy apathetic, broken, but here he seemed… terrified? Something did not add up. “ Can you calm down and recap?”

Tommy shook his head, as if he clear his thoughts. “ I saw you guys. Killed. There was blood all over the place. And on my suit. Goldar was there. He…”, finally the Green Ranger choked on the words and Zack grasped it all.

“ Fuck. Her.”, he spat out, startling Tommy. Zack just looked at his fellow Ranger with a frown. “ The damn witch set us up. None of this is real.”

“ It felt all to real to me.”, Tommy shot back, finally getting up. “ It was Kevin that rammed me into the tree.”

“ Listen, I saw you give us out to Rita, but here you are, with a version of your own. And I’ve got bruises of my own to show.”, Zack spat out. “ I can’t prove you’re the real deal, but at this point, I’ll take non-traitor Tommy over the apathetic dolt I saw.”

Tommy winced at the words, but he was not surprised at the sentiment. He still felt he deserved it. “ You think we can find the others?”

“ We’ll damn well try.”, Zack answered and the two set off, the distrust one tempered by the fear of the other. Both needed one another if they were going to get out of this ordeal alive.

* * *

The Rangers did not know they were walking in circles on a huge island, the landmass where they trod shifting continuously to guide them on a journey of its own magical design. Foliage shifted and thickened, then rarefied as they passed, mountains appearing where they had not been before and streams of water changing their direction. More than once the duos cursed in frustration as they encountered yet another obstacle of some kind. More than once did they try to use their morphers or activate their communicators, only to be greeted by a lack of results. Images of burning cities and battles alternated, until finally the group came to stand together on the same clearing, looking at each other in surprise as if they saw each other for the first time. The greetings were subdued, a lingering suspicion passing between them. Each one was expecting the rest of vanish at a moment’s notice as yet another product of this realm where Rita sent them to. It was Billy that first noticed his morpher glowing faintly, and he palmed the device for everyone to see. A second and a third followed, and the teens stood in a circle, the morphers in the center. The coins shone brightly, reacting to each other even in this realm of shifting reality. As Billy thumbed the teleportation stud, the group vanished in multicolored light.

* * *

Kevin felt as if he was suspended in the void with no sense of direction. He felt something terrible creep around him in tendrils, probing for his mental defenses, looking for a way in. Time blended and lost all meaning in the mental tug-of-war as the presence tried to get a hold of him with a promise of both salvation and terrible repercussions. Every now and then he abruptly rose back to his physical senses, as if surfacing rapidly out of water, greeted back by a constant state of pain caused by the huge amount of energy that was flowing through his body. In those moments he’d feel his muscles contract and his skin stretch out, as if an invisible hand was trying to mold him, and when not satisfied, tried to add more under his skin. Every step of the way he felt scrutinized, as if he were something of a curiosity to an intelligence he could not even begin to grasp, but whose presence towered in his perception as something almost godlike.

Goldar had seen Rita leave the chamber looking more exhausted than ever before after the ritual was complete, the witch’s skin paled and drained. Scorpina had left with her, the other alien giving Rita a helping hand. Now he watched in curious fascination as the human's body jolted up and spasmed periodically with pain, straining against the restrains. The terrible energies Rita had set in motion were well under way to mold the human into her next champion. The sight of the teen's body brightened by the energy flow and the twitches of pain it caused made Goldar's hair stand up. He had heard of the incredible potency of the rite: not many victims withstood it intact. But the cost for a single employment was high. Many had fallen almost immediately, the spell stripping them of conscience and bonds, but most died before it happened, either unable to sustain the power and the changes forced onto them or by sheer force of resistance. Nobody knew what it was that the victims encountered while in the process of transformation, but there were rumors of something far more dangerous that followed those that succumbed.  
This human was of a surprisingly resisting sort, the like of which any warrior would like to boast. Every now and then he'd catch the human's eyes, a defiant look that seemed to be issuing a silent dare. Goldar walked around a bit, shifting and observing the energy swirling around. By now, the crimson and black lashes of energy formed tentacles that seemed to seep into the human at an alarming rate, brightening and outlining the muscle tissue under his skin. Goldar grew more alarmed: the amplified version of spell Rita had unleashed with the help of the energies stored in this place seemed to take its own, unpredictable turn. As the energy vortex started to pick up uncontrollably once again, Goldar thought he saw the human’s eyes flash in an instant. Already shaken and alarmed, the alien warrior dismissed the whole thing as a mind’s trick, all the while he tightened his fingers around his sword’s hilt in a nervous grip.  
As he watched with apprehension, the background hum started to get louder. The alien took a step backwards against the walls when the hum turned into a deafening thudding, the torrent of energy unleashed growing wider. As the spell spiraled out of control, the fierce resonance in the air caused every single crystal to break, and the energy amplified and released created a veritable tornado, its center in the teen’s body. In the middle of it all, Kevin’s body jerked upwards and he let out an inhuman scream.

* * *

Zordon was looking at the computer readouts in vain, unable to change their outcome. When the dimension scan had finally finished, Zordon’s heart sank: the Rangers had been transported to the Island of Illusion, and there was no way he was able to get them out of there. The Island had been created as a concept to weaken bonds between Ranger teams, and between Rangers and the Morphin Grid. It turned to be a place that was the undoing of many a Ranger team in the long run, and the only bright side was that its magic was expendable: after receiving new residents under its thrall, the Island’s magic would expend itself working its task, and the captives would be free to go, taking whatever traumas they’ve encountered with them. Neither Zordon nor any other Master had yet figured a way to bail a Ranger team out of there once they became trapped. The fact Rita was employing the place now could only spell trouble.

Alpha whirled around in surprise as the computer readouts changed, and the screen showed the teleportation systems coming alive. “ Zordon, they’re coming back!”, the automaton exclaimed with elation as he slowly tweaked the system output.

The sage just nodded as colored streaks solidified into a circle of disoriented teens. “ RANGERS, WELCOME BACK.”, his voice boomed, startling the Rangers for a moment.

“ Thanks Zordon.”, Jason spoke up, looking over each of his team members in turn. The smallest of changes in each of them worried him. He was the first who clipped his morpher back onto his belt, taking solace of the device being there.

“ What were our whereabouts?”, Billy asked, drawing towards Alpha unconsciously. He had met Jason’s gaze, trying to put up a brave facade, but failed miserably. He wasn’t the only one. Kimberly had made a point of staring intently at the floor ever since they returned, and Trini had the same far away look he saw on her when they met on the Island.

“ RITA HAD TRANSPORTED YOU TO THE ISLAND OF ILLUSION.”, Zordon answered, looking worriedly at his Chosen. Already they instinctively acted out on whatever the Island had shown them, and in doing so were breaking both the bonds of trust and the bond of Power. He hoped silently he would not lose them. “ IT IS A PLACE DESIGNED TO BREAK A RANGER TEAM APART THROUGH THE DISPLAY OF THEIR FEARS. ”

“ You can say that again.”, Tommy commented slumping down with his back against a computer console. He was staring at his morpher almost bleakly, as if the device bit him.

“ YOU MUST NOT LET THE ISLAND’S VISIONS COLOR YOUR VIEW. ”, Zordon admonished in small hopes of jolting his team out of its reverie. He hasn’t yet told them all the news. “ NOW MORE THAN EVER YOU HAVE TO BAND TOGETHER AND OVERCOME WHATEVER DOUBTS HAVE BEEN SEEDED IN YOUR MINDS.”

“ Easier said than done.”, Tommy quipped once again, earning himself an annoying look from Trini and Zack. Each of them had enough on their minds without their teammate being forlorn.

“ So what’s Rita been up to while we were traipsing in that freak show park of hers?”, Zack asked, refraining himself from glowering further at Tommy.

“ I AM AFRAID I DO NOT KNOW. THE CITY AREA IS SUSPICIOUSLY QUIET.”, Zordon admitted. “ HOWEVER, KEVIN HAD BEEN MISSING EVER SINCE THE ATTACK.”

The statement made Jason tense up. “ Any clues?”, he asked, his eyes darkening. He didn’t need this. He barely noticed when Kimberly came to stand wordlessly besides him, grasping his hand gently.

“ THE MOST RECENT SCANS PUT SCORPINA AND A MONSTER ON THE MOUNTAIN OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY.”, Zordon replied as the Viewing Globe panned around to show the aliens in question. The massive monster seemed to be loitering near the entrance of a cave, while Scorpina sat on a nearby rock.

“ Let’s pay them a visit then.”, Jason grumbled, reaching for his morpher once again today. “ IT’S MORPHIN TIME!”

* * *

Kevin trashed around, both his body and mind feeling the terrible things set in motion. Finally his consciousness buckled and broke under the assault all the while his body betrayed him and absorbed whatever was given. As soon as his resistance slipped, the spell wormed its way into his mind. Memories replayed through his head, as if it was a book that someone was leafing through to find a point of interest, and held for an instant on every instance in his past where he had been on the verge of unleashing violence. The flashes finally stopped: on a moment frozen in time: he held a sword over the Green Ranger’s head in a grave threat not so long ago. What consumed him was not hate or rage: it was the cold, ruthless response to the man that kidnapped his brother, borne out of concern. The move was only meant to intimidate. Or was it? Would he had really done it? With that last memory, he finally blacked out. The malicious force did its work: every principle he ever upheld was stripped, everything that ever made him a decent human being was forced into oblivion, leaving in its place something cold, ruthless and without remorse, a personality without morality and conscience. Loyalty to Rita weaved into the initial spell was added like an afterthought, as if something that was only reluctantly needed.

When oblivion finally lifted, Kevin woke up a changed person. His eyes snapped open, and he inhaled deeply, the last ounces of energy swirling into him like tendrils, the rage of the vortex finally finding rest in its new host. The restraints holding him snapped apart from the pull of his muscles, and he got up, moving from the giant altar, and up front of Rita's general. Goldar sized the human up warily, then smiled and offered his right hand.

" Welcome, warrior. ", the camian growled in satisfaction. “ How does it feel?”

“ Elating… right. ”Kevin responded with a mirthless smile. “ What is asked of me?”, the tone of voice was emotionless, cold.

“ Your liege commands you to destroy the Power Rangers.”, Goldar issued the command and watched as the en-spelled teen gave him only a curt nod of acknowledgment. This would prove to be an interesting turn of events.

* * *

The teleportation beam deposited them at a safe distance to the cave entrance, and the Rangers brought their weapons at the ready when the monster bounded towards them. True to the earthen myths of old, the monster was composed of the body of a lion, a vaguely humanoid face, leathery bat wings and a scorpion’s tail. As it landed in the middle of the group, the Ranger scattered, eager to avoid the lashing of the giant tail, or the acid that the manticore spewed forth from its maw. It took the team’s best efforts to keep one step ahead of the monster’s attacks, but the only thing they accomplished was a tentative stalemate. As each of them would get past the monster, they would be greeted by Scorpina, who barred the entrance to the cave with her sword drawn.

“ You’re so eager to spoil your surprise, Rangers.”, she taunted them as she rebuffed the Yellow Ranger once again and watched her scramble from under the monster’s feet.

“ Okay, regroup.”, Jason called out over the communications line after seeing the disorganized mess their fighting had become. The monster, in turn, answered Scorpina’s curt whistle and stood next to her obediently like a dog awaiting its next command.

“ Kim, we need covering fire. Zack, you too.”, Jason started issuing the commands. In habit, the two called out nodded in confirmation, summoning their weapons. “ Tommy, you have that shield of yours. Your job is to get past Scorpina into that cave. See what the Hell they’re doing there and bail out.” Tommy just nodded curtly. He could tell Jason didn’t like giving that particular order: no doubt the Red Ranger would’ve wanted to go in there himself and find his brother. “ Zack, Kim, when you see Tommy near the entrance, give him a hand. The rest of us will help wrangle this thing to the best we can and keep Scorpina off.”

The group voiced their confirmation as they split up, bringing their weapons to bear one by one. Kimberly immediately found the high ground and a stream of projectiles flew from her bow with pinpoint accuracy. Zack took the other side, the Power Cannon humming to life and pumping shot after shot into the monster’s hide. The two ranged attackers were backed by their close combat teammates, each of them using their weapons to the best of their ability to wrangle the creature around. Billy had the most luck with the endeavor as the Power Lance’s stabs found their target. Jason had a makeshift sword duel with the monster’s tail as he used the Power Sword to keep deflecting the appendage away from the rest of his team: its stinger dripped with sizzling venom. Trini instead primed her Daggers and launched herself at Scorpina, the alien general ready to greet her.  
Amids the chaos, Tommy saw his chance and slipped past the battlefield and into the cavern, which turned out to be an abandoned mineshaft. He traversed the corridor at a run, fearful that any kind of aftershock from the battle would collapse the structure onto his head. In front of him opened a swirl of light and he jumped into the portal, colliding with Goldar on the other side. The camian had to spread his wings to steady himself, and grinned when he saw the Green Ranger drop onto the floor in surprise.

“ You’re first.” Tommy was surprised to hear coming from behind his back as he scrambled to his feet, and turned to stand face-to-face with Kevin. A second surprise came as the teen pulled him off the floor and launched him into the nearby wall, all the while his face sported a sort of grim, cold half-smile. Looking into Kevin's eyes, his eyes widened in horror as they met the nothingness in them. Pitch black looked back at him.

“ Okay, you have to snap out of it…”, Tommy started, backtracking with his arms raised, then ducking when the older teen took another swing at his head.

“ Green Ranger!”, the alien called from the side, content to stand and watch the fight unfold, “ You’re acting as your words will make any difference.”

“ Oh shut up, Goldar.”, Tommy groaned as a kick found its mark in his stomach, sending the Green Ranger stumbling backwards. “ If you don’t have anything interesting to say…”

“ Well, if you had done a better job, Green Ranger, there would have been no need to enlist another.”, the camian taunted back with a fanged grin from the sidelines. Tommy stiffened at the taunt, earning him another blow to the side of the helmet. He reeled back: this wasn’t how he was used to fighting Rita’s minions. He remembered his fights with the Rangers with clarity: he had been toying with them, overconfident in his anonymity and sure in the fact the Rangers had been too weak-willed to challenge him to their fullest. What he faced here was cold, precise and relentless, an opponent who wouldn’t give them any respite. His suit shields fought to attenuate the subsequent blows that landed with a force Tommy thought was usually reserved either for Rangers or beings not of this world, and he kept scrambling in defense, knowing with morbid certainty if he was pinned down, he’d be dead.  
The Green Ranger soon flew to the side of the main alcove, denting the ancient stone as he collided with it. Kevin effortlessly stepped up to him, pulling the sword from the niche where it was kept. A dragon’s head formed the guard, out of whose maw extended a brilliant blade that seemed to give off a light on its own. Stylized claws held a small gem on the pommel of the sword, its facets seemingly amplifying the light that it reflected.  
Tommy did not wait for the sword to drop down into a killing blow: pulling out the Blade Blaster haphazardly, he shot a point above the teen’s head, buying himself precious few seconds to bolt past the sword’s reach and towards the portal. When Goldar didn't stop the Green Ranger from entering the portal, Kevin frowned in disapproval.

“ You could’ve killed him.”, he stated, watching the alien just wave his hand dismissively.

" My lady wants to see you do the deed. To prove your loyalty to our cause as it were. ", he retorted to his new comrade-in-arms as they stepped through the portal and then made towards the light of the cave exit, the portal shimmering and closing behind them quietly. Goldar couldn’t help it but feel unsettled by the ruthlessness of the young man walking next to him with determination and murder in his eyes: the spell had wrought such changes in the human that even the camian was left wondering where were the limits. Or if there were any.

* * *

Tommy almost collided with Scorpina as he bolted out of the mineshaft, leaving both the alien general and the Yellow Ranger flatfooted. Trini regained her balance just as Scorpina grinned at her, her sword passing inches away from the Ranger’s helmet. The two circled around each other warily, and then Scorpina planted herself squarely at the entrance, tail flickering defensively. The Green Ranger bypassing her guard was an inconsequential setback. Her head twitched sky-bound as she heard Rita’s order to retreat, and vanished in a streak of black, leaving the Rangers only the monster to contend with.

Tommy halted to a stop next to Kimberly, whose arrows flew true at the manticore, but the hits seemed to have no impact whatsoever. Its hide was tough. She refused to acknowledge him: her concentration was thin as it were, and the arrows were starting to be harder to form. Jason rebuffed the tail once again, a speck of venom landing on the ground where his foot had been a moment before, and then bounded towards the Green Ranger.

“ Tommy, what happened?”, Jason asked in concern. The Green Ranger was panting heavily and held to one of his shoulders.

“ Jase…Your brother’s gone.”, Tommy managed to make out.

“ What ?!”, Jason roared in anger, hand tightening around the Power Sword.

“ Jason, look!”, Kimberly called out, the first to spot the two new arrivals out of the cave. Jason paled when he saw his brother standing at ease next to Goldar, the camian gesturing towards them with a roar. He searched his brother’s face for any sign of emotion, but saw only inky darkness in place of the sky blue of his brother’s eyes. The camian vanished soon after, leaving only his brother striding purposefully towards them, sword in hand.

“ I am pretty sure human skin does not have that texture…”, Billy commented while sweeping his Power Lance for another jab as his visor zoomed on the teen: thin black veins could be seen creeping on the muscles, and the complexion itself looked darkened.

By wordless agreement, the Rangers once again grouped out in a semblance of plan. The Green and Red Rangers rounded on the older teen while the rest carried on harrying the manticore in hopes of buying their teammates enough time. None of them knew what to expect. As Jason bore down on his brother, blade barred, it took him by surprise when the counter-blow almost knocked him out of balance. He gave several tentative strikes, trying to gauge his brother’s reaction but it was soon evident that Kevin was facing them with no reservations and no restraint, every movement planned to inflict serious damage to his opponents. The two Rangers found themselves fighting for their lives without truly understanding how it was possible.

" Damn it, Rita really outdid herself this time. ", Tommy yelled in frustration as he got up from a blow that dented the Dragon Shield, watching Jason staggering backwards from a kick in the abdomen.

" Just what we didn’t need. ", Jason replied, panting and getting up. He did not remember his brother having that kind of strength.

" You knew he could fight like that?", Tommy asked, moving to a side to get out of range from a swipe that threatened to cut him in half.

" I know the techniques, but safety and all… ", Jason answered, dodging barely again a series of sword strikes aimed at him. “ He’s pulling out all the stops here. ” He tried desperately to keep a cool head and not think of the older teen attacking him as his brother. It made the battle all the worse.

" Goldar implied we’d not be able to free him. ", Tommy stated, trying to intercept a blow aimed for Jason, but himself ending falling back from it.

" And I intend to prove that moron wrong.", came Jason's answer while he landed a kick into Kevin's ribs, the force of it amplified by the Power and cracking them. Kevin answered with a side blow from his free hand to the visor of the Red Ranger, stunning him for a moment. He used the momentum to propel a side kick into the Red Ranger's chest, launching him backwards. It seemed the pain did not faze him. Kevin moved towards the Red Ranger with his sword raised, his black eyes coldly searching for a hint of a weak spot through which he would deliver a killing blow. Facing his brother brought on a sense of something missing. He tried to ignore the feeling altogether, pushing back any recollection to his old life. He smiled sardonically as he recognized the last vestiges of his old self tried to reassert themselves. The intent to drive the sword into the Ranger’s side was met with an odd conflict, his muscles sizing up for just a moment, but then he drove the blow downward. The move was rewarded by a grunt of pain from the Red Ranger, the blade slicing thinly into flesh as the Ranger tried to roll out of the way. He pushed onward, but the tiny bits of recollection that slipped past the all-consuming darkness in his mind threatened to start a dissonance. No matter how he tried to ignore it, the feeling persisted, gnawing at his mind until doubt sprouted around it.  
Tommy watched as Kevin drew the blade over his head with both hands, ready to make that final blow at a laying and wounded Jason. A flashback reminded him of how not so long ago he was the one in the same position over Jason and it spurred him onward. Noticing that for a moment the older teen’s stance slackened, he lunged towards Kevin and snapped out a roundhouse kick, aiming to disarm the older teen. Seconds passed painfully as the kick connected, and the sword strike deviated from its intended target, missing the Green Ranger’s arm by a hair. As the blade fell, Kevin followed up onto the Ranger with an elbow strike, which turned into a vicious choke. The Green Ranger thrashed around as Kevin lifted him off the ground, and with all of his lucidity summoned the Dragon Dagger, which he stuck in the teen’s side. The stab wound made Kevin drop him and Tommy landed heavily on his back, gasping for air. The bloody Dragon Dagger fell into the dust seconds later as Kevin drew back to pick up the sword, and then advanced menacingly towards the Green Ranger, a circle of red forming on his shirt around the stab wound and widening by the second.

" You’re not done with me.", Jason growled, stepping between the two with the Power Sword drawn out. His suit had closed himself where the blade sliced his side, and the Power had already started to heal his flesh.

"A valiant… and useless effort. ", Kevin smirked as he advanced on the Red Ranger with long strides, the sword spun almost casually in his hand.

" Kevin, listen. You have to fight whatever that witch did to you. Come back to your senses. ", Jason pleaded with him, circling around Kevin with his sword extended in front of him. He noticed that his brother’s movement was slightly conflicted at the statement and his muscles unnaturally tense. What distressed him was the physical change that seemed to be ever more evident: he thought he saw bone growths on his brother’s arms, and the black tendrils became ever more prominent. The more they found, the more vicious his brother became. The visor streamed battle information and outlined all the weak spots on the teen’s exposed body, but Jason ignored the suggestions: he was not about to go for a killing blow if he could help it.

" I never left my senses. Rita just opened my eyes to who I am. ", Kevin stated coldly, but it just added to the feeling of something missing inside him. Memories surged onward like a grand tide, a myriad of tiny fragments crashing against his inner sight in a bid to be noticed. With no conscious effort, he drew on more of the seemingly unlimited source of power that had embedded itself into him, and that same force tried to clamp down on the dissonance.

“ Except that you aren’t a murderer.”, Jason shot back as he parried a sword slash. The two stood with the swords locked, neither of them giving way to the other, but Jason noticed another involuntary spasm of Kevin’s muscles. It lasted only a fleeting moment, but to Jason, it was all that was needed to spark hope.

“ This is survival of the fittest, brother.”, the last word left Kevin’s lips almost as a curse as he grounded himself, letting even more of the dark power course through his body to counteract the Ranger. “ You are weak to expend your effort on those who do not deserve it. That’ll be your fall.”

“ We’ll see about that. If it’s really survival of the fittest, is Rita really worthy?”, Jason managed through gritted teeth as they finally drew away from each other, the battle of wills expended. His brother’s words stung more than the sword wound that throbbed at his side, but he hoped he was getting through. It was with dismay that he noticed that the physical markings were getting worse.

“ Perhaps not.”, came the terse answer. “ But the witch is of no consequence, Red Ranger.”, his brother’s voice changed, enough to give Jason an irrational sense of dread. For that moment, he thought he had seen something in his brother’s eyes that sent chills running down his spine.

A low growl of satisfaction left Kevin’s throat as he sent the Red Ranger sprawling with a blow to the helmet. But the question posed gnawed at him and opened a host of doubts coupled with fragments of his memories. As if to nudge him to consider it further, another unknown sensation tugged at his mind, to the detriment of the influence he was under. The more he considered the feeling of wrongness, the more the strains of the spell started to unravel as the dissonance in his mind widened. Forced to nitpick at the things so forcibly pushed away, he found the loyalty to Rita first unworthy, but then utterly wrong, a concept implanted in his mind that had no place there. Somewhere within him, akin to a blinding flash of light in a dark room, the recognition that he was manipulated surfaced. He stepped back, keeping the sword in front of himself in a guarded position, all the while his mind came undone as everything that was removed from him came crashing back like an avalanche. The force that had so forcibly coupled itself to him wanted to keep him and mold him in its nightmare design, and as Kevin slowly picked apart its strands to uncloud his judgment, he sank to his knees in pain, dropping his weapon while his sanity ebbed away. The force within him was tantalizing, enticing him to embrace it and put an end to this foolish war. With a sudden clarity and horror he recognized how far he had become enmeshed with the evil that claimed him, and he recoiled. In that instant, the sensation of being watched returned, one watcher beckoning him into darkness, the other indifferent to his plight, as if he were somehow an object that piqued their interest. Kevin felt as if he was trapped in quicksand, and he instinctively reached out for the searing light that was the other with whatever will he could muster. Little did he know that back in the real world, his eyes had once again flashed.

* * *

Rita sat thoughtfully on her throne, having summoned the scene of battle in front of her. Goldar and Scorpina stood at her sides: the gold-clad scorpion-hybrid female licked her lips at the sight of victory, while the leonine camian unconsciously gripped the sword pommel so hard his knuckles whitened under the fur. It was not as if he resented the human for finally achieving what he strove to do for all this time, but he could not shake the feeling of wrongness in what they had created. The ritual had brought to the fore the human’s darkest side, but it coupled it to exactly what, the camian wasn’t sure.

Rita’s eyes widened as she saw the enslaved teen take a step back from a sure kill. She tried to form a magical link to her warrior, but what hit her back through it was a veritable tug-of-war: the teen had rallied back from the precipice of the abyss again, and was desperately clawing away the spell while his mind broke apart under the duality that emerged. Rita slammed her fist against the armrest in fury at her own stupidity: had she not been impatient, the teen would be with them heart and soul, and she would have a warrior the likes she could have only dreamed of when she chose the Green Ranger. She gripped her staff tightly, willing yet more energy through the mental link shared with her slave, desperately trying to enforce her will and salvage the situation. However, the projected energy hit a veritable wall, and what appeared between her and the teen on the mental landscape almost sent her cowering in terror. The message was clear: he was beyond her reach. Out of control. The vision would give her nightmares for weeks to come. She had hoped she could stave off this turn of events long enough to conquer Earth and vanquish Zordon, but whatever dwelt out there had other plans. Her two generals watched perplexed as Rita slumped in her throne, looking positively exhausted. Watching the erratic sight of the battle that unfolded down on Earth, neither of them felt like meddling in yet another battle that seemed lost.

* * *

Tommy tried to pull himself up, his helmet discarded next to him as his lungs wanted for air. He was watching with apprehension as Jason rebuffed time and time again Kevin’s blade with his Power Sword in a flurry of sparks. Kevin lunged at Jason, felling the Ranger with a savage blow to the head that sent him sprawling sideways. Tommy braced himself to get up and rush to Jason’s aid, but Kevin stepping back surprised him. He watched the older teen try to focus, all the while Jason got cautiously onto his knees, and couldn’t help but wince when the sword fell away from Kevin’s grasp as the teen sank to his knees with a grunt of pain. The two Rangers watched Kevin’s body tremble under strain, his body alight with currents of energy under his skin and physique shifting erratically underneath. For a moment it looked like his skin would rip under strain, striving to change under the influence of something neither of them could comprehend. As Jason looked on, he locked eyes with his brother, and gasped as he noticed a flash light up the previously black eyes.

When Kevin suddenly roared out, it was something inhuman and primal, all the while his body spasmed. Inside his mind, pitching one last stand against the power that had stripped him bare in an effort to claim him as its own, it took all of Kevin’s willpower to tear himself away from something that threatened to devour him. His form was lit up from inside as he convulsed in pain, sending bolts of lightning discharging into the air with such violence that the Green Ranger shielded his eyes, but when it calmed, Kevin barely stood on all fours, panting and heaving heavily. Finally, the teen’s shaking limbs gave out, and Kevin fell flat, his consciousness fading away.  
Picking himself up, Tommy hurried to Kevin’s side. Removing his gauntlet and placing his fingers against Kevin’s neck, Tommy drew a sign of relief as he found a pulse. Awkwardly turning over the unconscious older teen onto his back, he noticed that Kevin’s breaths were shallow, but they were unmistakably there. For a moment, Tommy allowed himself to sit down next to the unconscious teen, his own exertion catching up to him despite all the advantages of wielding the Power.  
Jason’s eyesight took time to refocus from the discharge, his head still ringing from the last blow. Bringing himself up on shaking legs, he half-expected to see his brother advancing towards him with blood on his blade, but instead he was surprised with the sight of the Green Ranger sitting down in the dust with the helmet in his hands and his brother unmoving next to him. For that instant, Jason’s worst-case scenario came to life and he hurried over, sword in hand and rage rising, but then he noticed the rise and fall of his brother’s chest, shallow as it was.

“ One Hell of a fight.”, Tommy remarked as Jason dropped unceremoniously into the dust next to him, the Power Sword disappearing in a flash of red as Jason mentally dismissed the weapon.

“ I swear…”, Jason started between deep breaths, not bothering to remove his helmet. “ I swear Rita’s going to pay for this.”

“ One step at a time, Jase.”, Tommy tried to sound reassuring as he looked down on Kevin’s unconscious form. His eyes came to rest on the sword that rested nearby, its shiny blade untouched by the gravel and dust. “ What do we do about that? It might be another Sword of Darkness for all we know.”

“ We take it with us. Maybe Zordon will know what it is. Or what to do with it.”, Jason grunted, getting up and sidestepping the body of his brother to pick up the sword. The moment his gloved fingers enveloped the hilt, a jolt made him drop the weapon back onto the ground. Tommy watched bewildered as Jason tried to pick up the ominous sword yet again, his hand grabbing at the hilt, but moments later his hand convulsed, the sword landing on the ground with a thump.

“ Damn thing.”, Jason grunted, gingerly massaging his right hand: the Ranger armor didn’t seem to do anything to prevent the energy jolt from sending his hand’s muscles spasming.

“ Here, let me try.”, Tommy offered, reaching for the weapon. For the third time, the sword landed back on the ground. Stubbornly, Tommy grasped the blade and the guard, but the consequent jolt sent him to his knees and the sword just slid from his hands.

“ Guess we’re not picking that up.”, Jason grumbled as he extended a hand, which Tommy took gratefully. The two Rangers stood for a moment, watching the weapon and the body as if zoned out, but then Jason moved forward, nudging the sword carefully around with his foot until the hilt rested near Kevin’s arm. Taking his brother’s arm lightly, he closed the slack fingers around the hilt. The effect was surprising: barely visible wisps of energy swirled from the weapon, but instead of stopping at the hand which grasped it, they spread across the body in a flash. The body arced upwards and dropped again, and they heard a gasp as Kevin opened his eyes suddenly.

“ Wha- - -”, the teen struggled to catch his breath as his heart rate spiked, hoisting himself onto his elbows. Seeing the two Rangers made him stop suddenly, eyes going wide and unfocused as memory finally caught up to consciousness. “ Oh crap…”, the sentence escaped in barely a whisper as Kevin dropped on his back again while his mind was desperately trying to cope with the events that replayed in his head.  
Tommy stepped silently back, giving Jason a curt nod towards the ongoing battle with the monster that raged in the distance. The other four Rangers had managed to draw the monster away from the Red and Green Rangers enough to give them space to deal with Kevin, but now that threat was eliminated, and their friends needed help. Jason watched in silence as Tommy put his helmet back on and ran to the battlefield, then crouched next to his brother, who made no sign of noticing the departure of the Green Ranger.

“ Are you okay?”, Jason finally forced himself to ask, giving his best to push aside the fact that just five minutes ago his brother was on the verge on killing the Green Ranger.

Seconds ticked in silence before an answer finally came. “ No.” Kevin shifted around, propping himself unsteadily on his side to rise on his feet. The dagger wound throbbed in pain. Jason offered a hand to help him up only to be rebuffed gruffly. “ Don’t.”, the words came angry yet weary. “ I’ll get up on my own.”

Jason looked uncertainly at a stray shot that zipped nearby, then sighed in resignation. “ I need to go help them.”

“ Go.”, Kevin replied tersely, fixating the ground as he tried to get his bearings. As soon as he heard the running steps moving away from him, he hoisted himself upward with a groan. His cracked ribs were pulsating in pain and his body ached in a myriad of different places, but it was nothing compared to what he felt inside. His mind felt nothing other but violated, and he couldn’t help remembering all too vividly everything he had done. His eyes stood fixated on the sword that gleamed on the ground while two sentiments warred with each other: one proud defiance, while the other was shame and regret. His fingers found the sword hilt again and he drew the weapon to eye height gingerly: there was a distinct feeling that this weapon somehow belonged to him.

Jason watched as Kimberly sent another volley of arrows flying towards the manticore whose acid breath kept the others at bay. He winced as he saw Tommy getting hit squarely across the chest by the monster’s tail, and the Green Ranger skidded across the ground towards where Zack was standing, Power Cannon in hand and blasting furiously. The bolts of energy impacted relentlessly against the monster’s hide, but only those placed in the more sensitive places went noticed. With a hint of amusement, Jason watched Trini leap from on high, Power Daggers barred downward into the manticore’s hide. She landed onto the acid-breathing monster with a thud and anchored herself with the Daggers, as if going for a wild round of rodeo with nothing but her Daggers as the anchoring point.

Billy, noticing Jason from the side, gave a barely perceptible nod to their leader. “ Everything okay, Jase?”, the Blue Ranger asked, his tone carefully neutral.

“ Just fine, Billy, just fine.”, Jason replied tiredly as he took a crouching position, Blade Blaster in hand and firing away. A roar pierced the sky as one of Kimberly’s arrows found its mark in the manticore’s eye, and all of the Rangers surrounding it had to take cover as it started to spew forth acid in berserker rage. Trini gave her best to stay on the beast’s back, but in the end she barely managed to wrench the Daggers out as the creature angled the scorpion tail at her and stabbed down. The move was followed by a cry of anguish, and the Rangers saw the manticore rolling around in the dirt, its own poison tail impaled into its torso.

“ Well that was one dumb critter.”, Zack muttered, to everyone’s amusement. “ Jase?”

“ On it.”, Jason replied in a nod, then gestured for the rest of the team to gather around. “ Weapons together!”

The Power Blaster rumbled to life in a flash, and Jason held the powerful weapon steady as the Rangers’ combined power soared from it and into the wounded beast. The subsequent explosion gave little solace to the troubled Red Ranger.

* * *

Seven streaks illuminated the central chamber of the Command Center, and Zordon watched the Rangers materialize, alongside with a very sullen Kevin. The older teen stepped back as the Rangers demorphed, grins of adrenaline-fueled exhilaration completely eclipsing post-battle weariness. The tension of the battle gave way to relief and in the euphoric haze, nobody noticed Alpha 5 nudging the withdrawn older teen to follow him, startling him from a self-imposed reverie. However, in the minutes that went as the victory celebration died down, a subtle tension settled between the six teens. The aftermath of the Island of Illusion settled between them like fine mist. Now that the battle was over, words came harder, and soon the room settled in silence, each of the teens pretending to be busy. 

Jason quietly left the main chamber, heading towards the medical bay. As he reached the doors, he noticed Tommy trailing after him, and the two exchanged glances in respectful silence. They both wanted to know the aftermath. The door opened with a quiet swish, and they found Kevin sitting on the medical table with Alpha doing the last examinations. His cracked ribs have been patched and the stab wound was mended to the best of Alpha’s ability, but there was nothing more that could be done for the bruises.

" How's he? ", Jason asked from the door, unsure to cross the threshold. He noticed his brother looked at the floor intently.

" He is well as he can be and ready to leave. He will have to take it easy until his ribs heal, however. ", Alpha told him as Kevin got up without a word and brushed past them on his way out. Under his shirt, traces of bandages could be seen.

" And the tests? Last thing we need is him going all Jerkyll and Hyde on us again.", Tommy asked, concerned that they might not have another outburst on their hands. The first and hopefully last one would have not ended well for them if Kevin didn't snap out of it when he did.

" There is no trace of any malevolent force or signs of tampering with his mind. ", Alpha replied happily, and then came to stand next to Jason, examining the flesh wound at the teen’s side, then looking over the bruises. Fortunately for Jason, the Power had healed his wound partially after his suit had closed itself off and repaired itself, and Alpha had to apply only a light bandage. The bruises would remain for quite some time, but it was nothing that wouldn’t heal with time. Tommy was next for the automaton’s inspection, and the Green Ranger submitted meekly to the ministrations. His thoughts veered into dark places.  
By the time the two returned to the Command Chamber, the rest of the team was gone, this time each of them going their separate ways. Zordon gave a respectful nod to his team leader and the Green Ranger as they both thumbed the teleportation stud on their communicators: the team had been through much today, those two more so.He turned to his robot helper, who steadily held the sword Kevin brought back, locked tightly in a mag field. Tommy's description of the place left the old sage with an idea where the older teen had been held, and it didn’t bode well. It only made worse the already bad situation.

" WELL? WHAT ARE THE RESULTS?", he asked Alpha in concern, giving a revered glance to the weapon.

" Ay ay ay! The sword is not a fake. It's the actual Guardian weapon. ", Alpha gave his confirmation, and Zordon froze.

" WHAT ABOUT THE TEEN? ", Zordon asked frowning. These were dire news indeed.

" He is indeed one of the Chosen. ", Alpha answered back and with that simple sentence shattered any hope for simple resolution to the matters that Zordon might’ve had.

Zordon looked on in the Viewing Globe, watching his Rangers go about their daily tasks, deeply in thought at the upcoming events and the dangers that will surely follow. He watched the Red Ranger's brother retreat in seclusion, hunched in a ball against the wall in his room and no doubt beating himself silently for his actions. The old sage could not blame him: he had watched the battle, and knew just what had Rita done this time around. It was not something that many got out of without some kind of damage, if not irrevocably changed. And taking that into account, the ancient sage was very afraid of the prospect of the teen being a Chosen. A long way awaited this one.


	5. Revelations

The clock on the nightstand cast a dull red glow, not even enough to silhouette 02:18 AM at the opposing wall. The breeze that drifted through the open window rattled the thin curtains softly but the bed inside the room was still neatly made… and empty.

Kevin vaulted over a sturdy wooden fence, making no noise as he landed in a crouch. The backpack on his back shifted softly, and the sword scabbard fastened across his back thumped lightly under the backpack. His form was only briefly outlined in the moonlight as he slid into the shadows again. He sprung up and broke into a run, shortly clearing another fence. Every weekend, he had outdoor training with his teacher, practicing the covert aspects of his chosen art. They’d often trespass in public buildings and private properties, testing their skills in true situations. And now he was returning home the quick way, across the lawns of the block houses, careful not to cause disturbance. He’d made a point to cross the propriety of the dog owners as quickly as he could: some of the dogs had a tendency to bite and were kept on a longer leash at night.

 

They had practiced sword fighting on the flat roof of the second floor of Angel Grove High that night: the sky was clear and the moonlight had provided ample light for the two fighters to hone their craft. Tonight was one of those nights when Kevin preferred to be up and about instead of sleeping: the ordeal at the temple loomed heavy on his mind. For the past few weeks, he sought relief from the thoughts hounding him: he engrossed himself in everything that came his way just so he would not have a moment of respite to think. But in the silence of the night and the cover of dreams, the nightmare always came back: a cloud of crimson and black that haunted him and colored his vision, and his own emotionless voice that taunted him relentlessly.

 

As he approached his own house, he heard a faint rustle of the leaves. Vaulting silently into his own backyard, he looked up at the tree that snaked upwards next to the back patio. The moonlight enabled him to see glimpses of a person climbing carefully upwards towards the roof of the bottom floor, unaware of being watched. Frowning at the wannabe burglar, Kevin unslung his backpack just enough to pull two clawed leather bands from its side pocket. Fastening the bands around his hands, claws protruding from his palms, he looked upwards again as a leaf drifted gently downward. Gripping the tree trunk at the sides firmly, he began to ascend. He inched upwards steadily, the claws providing a firm grip where he dug them into the tree. The man above him was perched on a thick branch, looking to cross over onto the roof. Kevin grasped the ankle of the figure between the index finger and thumb and pulled firmly. The man gave a yelp as he lost balance, his arms enveloping the branch as he doubled over it. Kevin could not help but chuckle as he came face-to-face with a positively spooked Tommy Oliver.

 

“ Couldn’t you guys use the teleportation for this kind of social call? ”, the older teen commented with a hint of sarcasm.

 

“ Holy shit, Kevin, you gave me a heart attack! ”, Tommy managed through his teeth, looking at the man that was almost face level with him now.

 

“ That was the whole point. ”, Kevin replied with a smirk. “ I thought you were a thief. A bad one. ”

 

“ Yeah, sorry, just me.”, Tommy shot back as he scrambled up onto the branch again. Kevin watched the teen lean against the tree, then in three steps spring forward, landing effortlessly on the roof. Despite being broader than Tommy was, Kevin effortlessly swung around onto the branch and leaped onto the roof, landing almost soundlessly. Tommy watched with interest as the older teen sat on the roof and took the clawed bands off his hands: it struck him how easier would’ve been for Kevin to cripple him with those had he grabbed his ankle properly.

 

As Kevin packed the bands into his backpack and flung it into his room through the open window, a light flickered in the adjacent room. Moments later, Jason poked his head out of the window to the sight of two people sitting on the roof in silence. His eyes first fell on Kevin: the few bruises along his arms had not been there the previous evening, and the look in Kevin’s eyes unsettled Jason more than he could put in words. He gave his brother a stare that clearly stated they’d have a talk later, which was not returned. He watched his brother hop through the open window into his room and disappear from view. He then looked at Tommy, who sat relaxed and was rubbing his foot absentmindedly. Tommy returned his amused look with a glare of his own.

 

“ What happened to you?”, Jason asked, forcing himself not to yawn. These visits had been more frequent when Tommy had been freed of Rita’s spell, and Jason sympathized with the Green Ranger as they both suffered a relapse after the fight with the manticore and the trip to the Island of Illusion. None of the team took it well. The fact it took Tommy this long to come and visit him spoke volumes.

 

“ Your brother. ”, Tommy grumbled back, stretching his leg. “ Almost flung me down from the tree. ”

 

“ Go figure. ”, Jason mumbled, blinking tiredly in a futile attempt to chase away the remnants of sleep from his vision.

 

“ He does that often? ”, Tommy asked, gesturing with his head towards the still open window. Only a faint shuffle could be heard from the inside of the room.

 

“ I honestly don’t know. ”, Jason replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “ This is the first time I’ve seen him sneak out at night. ”

 

“ You might want to keep an eye on him. ”, Tommy remarked with concern. “ You think something remained of the spell he was under? ”

 

“ I’ve no idea... ”, Jason said, troubled thoughts making themselves heard. “ I think Zordon would know if it did. ”

 

“ Zordon is keeping us in the dark on this one. ”, Tommy sighed. Their mentor had seemed more reticent than usual when it came to that whole event, and Tommy knew Jason was the last person who liked to be out of the loop.

 

“ How are you holding up? ”, Jason asked, looking at his friend’s unkempt hair and tired look. He extended a hand over to his friend, a gesture Tommy took eagerly and crossed over the window into the bright room.

 

“ Not good. ”, Tommy admitted with reluctance as he slumped in the chair at Jason’s work desk. “ The Island and Rita’s spell… They opened nightmares I thought I left behind. ”

 

Jason just nodded. He knew the sentiment intimately as his mind had replayed the event for the past few weeks. In his dreams, he relived the scenes all over again, seeing the pitch black eyes of his brother condemn his lack of leadership and his weakness all the while his body was turning into something inhuman. At other times it was the Island’s influence that made itself heard: Tommy’s condescending smirk and Goldar’s roar mocked him ceaselessly . In his waking moments, at times he thought he saw the remnants of the murderer his brother had been for that brief moment, caged in subtle moves. He forced himself to let that train of thought go, and listened to Tommy talk. Now more than ever he felt he had to prioritize the team, no matter the consequence to himself.

* * *

Jason abruptly woke to the sound of his alarm clock going off in loud, angry beeps. The digits displayed 6 AM neatly outlined in red light. Staggering out of bed and into the bathroom, he cursed himself for staying up with Tommy for over an hour before falling asleep again. At least the Green Ranger had left with his head held higher, and so it was worth it. It had to be. Quickly dressing himself up in his workout clothes, he half-ran half-stumbled down the stairs to find his brother crouching near the door as he put on his sneakers.

 

Kevin looked up in surprise at the footsteps coming from the stairs. “ ‘Morning Jase. What are you doing up? ”, he asked almost suspiciously.

 

“ Going for a workout with you for a change. ”, Jason shot back as he reached for his own sneakers. “ You haven’t given me the chance to lately. ”

 

“ I’ve had my reasons. ”, Kevin grumbled back as he took up the house keys. “ You should go back to bed. You haven’t been getting enough sleep.”

 

" Yeah. No shit. ", Jason shot back, rubbing his neck absentmindedly while his sleepy mind inwardly cursed his older brother for having a knack of stating the obvious. However, he wasn’t about to back out.

 

The two left the house, the silence between them only broken by the jangle of keys as Kevin almost reluctantly locked the door. The house had been empty save for the two boys: their father was on yet another sortie in the local military base and their mother on a business trip to the nearby city of Stone Canyon. The two jogged down the street and toward the Angel Grove park, but Jason could tell his brother did not welcome his presence for a change. The streets were mostly empty, with only the other joggers there for company, and the bustle of traffic had yet to pick up. As they came to the park, they moved to a spot by the lake they had made theirs for the morning exercise and opened the morning sparring session with a bow.

 

" So, any plans for today? ", Jason asked as he blocked a punch and returned a kick to Kevin's head, which the bigger teen had a problem evading.

 

" Training. Studying. More training. _Sensei_ wants another extended session. ", Kevin replied between gritted teeth, catching the kick with one of his hands and crouching down slightly, his leg extending swiftly and going for a sweep.

 

" Again? ", Jason asked in annoyance as he evaded the sweep in the nick of time, prying out his foot out of his brother’s hand with difficulty.

 

" Yeah. You should drop by. ", the invitation was extended almost as an afterthought as the two teens sparred.

 

" I'll see about it. The karate sessions are taking a lot of my time. ", Jason mumbled out, dropping back into a closed stance and trying to circle around his brother cautiously.

 

" Not the only thing taking your time.", Kevin shot back, all the while trying to goad Jason into an attack with a series of feints.

 

" You’re the one to talk. ", Jason managed to answer back as his attempt at an attack got nipped down by a nasty punch that came dangerously near a nerve point. The two resumed circling warily. “ Speaking of… What were you doing out last night? ”, Jason asked, deciding to risk it and went for a high kick, aimed at Kevin’s jaw.

 

“ Nothing you should worry about. ”, Kevin shot back, catching Jason’s leg then sliding under Jason’s guard and enveloping him in a grapple.

 

“ Maybe I should. ”, Jason managed through his teeth as he fought to maintain balance. “ What happened should be a valid reason. ”

 

Kevin shifted slightly and slid his leg under Jason’s, abruptly pushing him forward with almost excessive force. The younger teen fell onto his back, chin raised firmly against his chest, his arms crossed, and waited out the throbbing from the impact to die out.

 

“ You’re seeing problems where there are none. ”, Kevin said tersely, muscles tensing up as he turned around and took a few steps away in order to give Jason some space. Jason took the opportunity to spring back up and improvise a charge. He rammed into the older teen, who instinctively twirled around as he heard the footsteps, barely redirecting Jason’s charge away with a vicious shove. In that instant, Jason got a reaction he had not quite expected. “ Do. Not. Push. It. ”, the growl came clipped, but Kevin’s eyes betrayed him: Jason spotted a brief flash of light as they had collided.

 

“ You need to talk to me. ”, Jason pleaded as he rolled down onto the ground and then sprung back up. He had noticed a lack of follow-up attack, and instead watched his brother just stand there, breathing heavily, muscles locked up.

 

“ We’re done here. ”, came the tense answer as Kevin turned his back and stalked over towards the park exit. The workout was over and Jason’s thoughts darkened as he followed his brother in silence.

* * *

Trini almost absentmindedly twirled a pencil between her fingers as watched in silence as Kimberly vaulted over the balance beam, her routine outwardly as good as ever. However, when looked at closely, it could be seen that the other girl had been distracted, and it showed in subtle things. Trini couldn’t blame her: each member of their little group was rattled lately, and it showed the most in the few battles that Rita threw their way. Her own workout routine had been devoid of its usual flow, and she had trouble relaxing as she used to do. Whenever she’d close her eyes, the gaping chasm that had been the cliff of the Island of Illusion stared back at her, with Scorpina’s laughter in the background. It was something Trini would give anything to stop reliving over and over again.

Billy sat nearby, head buried in another science book. The Blue Ranger had engrossed himself in his work and Trini did not doubt that what he saw at the Island still gnawed at him. To have the confidence in your friends so rattled was unimaginable to Trini, who tried her best to give Billy whatever aid she could. She only wished she could do more, but none of the members of the team were forthcoming about what was that they saw on the Island.

 

The sound of the bar chair being pulled over startled the Vietnamese out of her thoughts. “ You okay? ”, Kimberly spoke up, wrapping a towel around her neck. She’d been at her routine for over an hour and welcomed the exhaustion: it helped her not to think about the Island’s vision.

 

“ I’m fine. ”, Trini replied with a sigh, giving one last glance to where Billy was sitting and then turning back to Kimberly. “ Kim, we need to talk. ”

 

“ What about? ”, the question did not sound genuine and Trini could see the other girl tense up ever so slightly even as she took a sip of water from the bottle on the table.

 

“ You know what. ”, Trini shot back calmly, motioning for Kimberly to sit next to her. “ We can’t go on like this. ”

 

Kimberly sighed. She knew how dysfunctional the team had been lately, and sooner or later each one of them would have to face the rest of the team with their fears and doubts. “ I know, okay? ”, she finally answered back with a sigh. “ I just can’t…”

 

“ Come on. ”, Trini beckoned, rising up and moving lightly towards the exit of the Youth Center. They made their way to the parking lot, perching themselves on the far wall that separated the concrete from the greenery that surrounded the Youth Center: nobody would give them a second glance while they talked. As they settled, Trini looked at her best friend in concern. “ Promise me you’ll tell me what happened out there if I tell you mine. ”

 

Kimberly seemed startled at the proposal, but after a moment of thought nodded in agreement. “ Sure. I guess. ”

 

Trini took a long breath and started talking. The memory of the fight and the fall were all too vivid in her mind, and the feeling of helplessness was almost overwhelming. The absence of her friends in that single desperate moment had rattled Trini to her core, and the feeling of vertigo she had experienced was like nothing before. The fact her Power Coin was missing and she had felt no connection to the Power whatsoever in that moment had broken any feeling of hope she might’ve had. When they came off the Island, it had spilled over into every day life. Recalling Zordon’s words, she knew she had to do something, both for herself and her friends.

Trini found herself enveloped in a hug when she finished her tale, the petite brunette offering her the comfort both knew she needed. Kimberly could only guess how deeply the Island’s event had affected the Yellow Ranger, and the reality of it brought into focus just how much the group had splintered.

 

“ Well…”, Kimberly started with an embarrassed smile. “ Mine will sound really stupid after what you just told me. ”

 

“ You promised. ”, Trini coaxed her friend lightly. Incidentally, she felt relieved now that she told someone about what happened. A weight she didn’t know she had lifted off her shoulders.

 

“ I sure did…”, Kimberly replied with a sigh. She started telling her story, vividly as if it had only happened hours and not weeks ago. It was hard for her to remember the utter helplessness that was otherwise so uncharacteristic for her, and her inability to help the one person that tried to save her. Admitting her feelings for Jason was where her throat locked up, and she looked away from the sympathetic face of her friend. She felt ashamed of them: in that crucible, it turned out that the feelings for Jason, that she did not know until that moment she had, mattered more than her friendship with the group as a whole.

It was Trini’s turn to envelop her friend in a hug as she finished her story. It was scary how similar of an experience both of them had, and she wondered if the rest of the team had anything similar. She knew for a fact Billy did, and was bouncing away from it slower than the others.

 

“ Told you it was silly. ”, Kimberly told Trini sheepishly, drawing away from the embrace.

 

“ No, it isn’t. ”, Trini was genuinely sincere. “ Why didn’t you talk to Jason about it? ”

 

“ We all know those were illusions. ”, Kimberly crossed her hands on her lap and looked at the floor. “ Who’s to say he really feels that way. ”

 

“ Only one way to find out. ”, Trini said with a smile. “ We have to talk of this as a group. Zordon said Rita was counting on the Island to weaken us, and so far it’s working. We need to show her otherwise. ”

 

“ You’ve got that right. ”, Kimberly nodded as both girls bounced back on their feet. It was up to them to boost their friends out of the illusion-induced doubts that they have been mulling over for the last weeks. It was time to show Rita she had not won yet.

* * *

The man was watching his pupil go through a reasonably complicated series of moves with the sword, trying to see if the teen showed any errors this time. For the first time since he taught the teen that particular sequence, he saw the teen perform it anywhere close to combat standard. He noticed that for days now his pupil had a new kind of energy in his training and he could not but wonder what brought about the change: the latest training sessions were increasingly erratic, starting off fairly well, but at certain points his pupil would keep pushing the sparring fights to the point where the older man was forced to almost maim his student. The usual discipline was marred by the shadow of something else the _sensei_ couldn’t place. But the change in behavior had to be linked to multiple abrupt leaves that his pupil took for weeks now, always citing some last-minute engagement. The man took up his sword once again to proceed with training, all the while resolving that he would get to the bottom of this particular mystery.

* * *

Goldar had spent his free time frantically looking for reasons why Rita’s plan went sideways. He did not do it out of any kind of loyalty to the sorceress, but out of his own uneasiness. The more he thought on it, the more he was convinced the witch had allowed something extremely deadly to enter this world, and it had happened too fast for her to control. After finally inquiring with Finster about the nature of the portal and its destination, Goldar left the alchemist’s abode positively fuming, both with rage and with shame. The corridors of the Moon Palace echoed with his footsteps as he strode towards the throne room, intent on confronting the witch, but he stopped in his tracks as another train of thought made itself heard. If what he had seen was right, there would be another way to clear his shame and fulfill an oath that he had carried with him ever since he took to the stars and the life of battle that awaited him beyond the confines of his home planet. He would have to gamble on his life on nothing more than a hunch, but if that meant that he would get his freedom once again, he’d take it.

* * *

Rita’s study was a stark contrast to the rest of the Moon Palace: it was well lit and spotless, a far cry from the sinister shadows that seemed to creep around the rest of the Palace. Rita took a degree of pride in its state. It was her private sanctum, a place where she could retire when her henchmen and generals got overbearing. Scores of books lined the ancient bookshelves and magical crystals were neatly interspersed around to provide optimal light for the witch’s work. Ancient magic hummed in the air, working to preserve the tomes contained in the room, as the slightest change in the environment would damage their ancient pages beyond repair, and with them precious knowledge would be gone.

 

Rita sat at the heavy wooden desk placed against the far wall of the room, safely away from the magical circle inset into the stone where she would enact her magical experiments. A thick book was spread out in front of her, the slightly yellowing pages showing depictions of coins and other devices used to channel the power of the Morphin Grid. Her finger traced along the lines of text that flanked the pictures, all the while an idea formed in her head. For weeks now, she had been trying to plot her revenge: the ara’mal, or the Void ritual, had taken an extreme toll on her, especially after making the short contact with the otherworldly intelligence whose powers she had tried to briefly usurp for her warrior. The ritual had been too amplified and she could barely believe how easy a root had that power taken in the teen she had tried to use to bring down the Power Rangers. Her only solace was that the event had created a chasm between the Red Ranger and his brother, and the older teen seemed out of the equation for now. Only time would tell if it would cause him to eventually seek again the entity and claim his marked place. She shuddered at the thought. It would not do well to be anywhere near the boy if that ever happened.

 

The witch now focused yet again on the team, and she set her sights on the coin that she still perceived as being rightfully hers. The Green Ranger had enjoyed his respite for too long, and she planned to return what was hers. It was time for the Green Ranger to burn out once and for all.

* * *

Tommy was practicing in the park alone when he heard the rustle of the leaves. He whirled out in surprise, not expecting anyone to seek him here. A troop of Putties swarmed around him out of thin air, herding him ever backwards from being able to call on any kind of help. He was fending off their clumsy attempts to pin him to the dirt with success until Scorpina showed up in a pillar of muted black light, toying with her curved blade with a bored expression. It took only a minute to prove he was no match for the alien’s swordsmanship while unmorphed, the enemy weapon making scalding nicks in his skin. His morpher and communicator felt impossibly distant as he desperately tried to fight the assault. The Putties clung to his limbs while Scorpina’s sword hovered inches from his chest, the alien reluctantly choosing to keep him alive. They vanished shortly after in a black distortion, leaving no trace he was ever there.

 

The teleportation deposited him awkwardly hovering almost half a meter above the misty floor, and Tommy fell flat onto his face. His body ached terribly, the small cuts from Scorpina’s sword reddening with clotted blood. Slowly getting up, he gulped as the mist gave way to gray barred walls, and with it he knew there was only one place where he could be: the Dark Dimension. The only thing that was out of place in this bleak room was a small oval table on which stood an unlit green candle. His morpher and communicator were neatly arrayed next to it, and his backpack was haphazardly discarded at the foot of the table. He took his morpher cautiously, fearing a trap to spring on him at any moment, and strapped his communicator on his wrist with haste. The sound of someone clearing his throat startled him.

 

" Well if it isn't the Green Ranger, captive again. ", the deep voice commented almost with amusement.

 

Turning around, Tommy saw Goldar coming towards him and he instinctively backed off to the opposite wall as Goldar reached the table in an almost leisure stride. The camian had gotten the drop on him. " What do you want from me, Goldar? ", Tommy asked cautiously, trying not to provoke a fight. In this place Goldar was definitely at an advantage, and even with his morpher in his possession, Tommy didn’t want to engage the alien warrior just yet.

 

" Me? Nothing. Rita, however, wants you back on our side. Or, at least, she wants the power coin back. ", Goldar stated casually while pulling out his sword out of the sheath and lit the fire on the candle with his other hand. The flame sprung easily to life on the wick, and burned with an almost mesmerizing green-tinged light.

 

" There is no way I am going back to serve her. Not of my free will! ", Tommy roared at the alien, forgetting for a moment his fear in fury that the golden clad warrior even proposed such a thing.

 

" There is a.... catch. Is that how you humans say? ", Goldar frowned, leaning on his sword. He looked too relaxed for Tommy’s liking: it was so unlike the alien to be devoid of his usual bluster. " When this candle burns out, you will be stripped of your powers and they return to Rita. So you have a few choices: rejoin us, lose your powers or try to get past me and extinguish the candle. "

 

Tommy glanced down at his morpher, where his coin shone faintly. He could almost see the patterns of a flame licking at the surface of the coin, barely visible, and the only thing that showed that the threat was not a fluke. Palming the device back into his pocket, Tommy launched himself against Goldar in an effort to get back to the candle, but the gold-clad warrior just smirked and managed to push Tommy away from the table without too much effort, like the Green Ranger was nowhere in his range of warrior prowess. The next several tries also ended the same way: the candle still burned brightly, and Tommy was sprawled on the floor, panting. He was unsure why the alien didn’t just kill him.

 

" You don't seem too up for the fight, Goldar. What's the matter? Rough day? ", Tommy taunted, hoping he'd get an impulsive reaction out of the gold-clad warrior. It surprised him that Goldar, who was usually bandying furious words with either him or Jason, now stood there completely still and did not rise to the bait.

 

" None of your business, Ranger. ", the calm reply was maybe something that scared Tommy more than anything at that moment. The fact that the alien was not being hotheaded for once spoke volumes. “ You do know Rita is allowing you to leave to consider our offer, Green Ranger? As long as you don’t take too long…”

 

The comment took Tommy slightly off guard: he did not think the witch would leave him off the hook that easily. That also meant she considered her plan to be foolproof, and that if he did not join forces with her once again, his powers would be gone. The anger at the brazenness of the plan propelled him to try and reach the candle several times more, until he was bruised and tired from getting battered by Goldar’s armored fists. Finally reaching for his communicator in resignation, he thumbed the teleportation stud, sending him on his way to the Command Center.

 

Goldar watched the emerald green streak carry the Green Ranger away from this domain, and he sheathed his sword. He had not needed the weapon at all, but he had hoped the Green Ranger would be deterred enough to go fetch the rest of his team before attempting to reach the candle. When Rita summoned him to help her prepare the Green Candle, he inwardly fumed at her timing: the aftermath of this attack would only put dents in his own plans, uncertain as they were. He would have liked nothing more than for Scorpina to have gotten this guard duty for once, but now he had to deal with it. The Green Ranger was unwilling to give in to Rita’s demands and the Camian hoped the stubborn Ranger had the sense to bring his fellows into this matter, despite the fact the Ranger team had functioned poorly ever since the Island of Illusion. Only time would tell.

* * *

Zack pivoted lightly as the song’s beat died, and with it his pattern of hip-hop-kiddo. The improvisation each beat brought along in his patterns was both relaxing and served to sharpen his combat skills. It was also a welcome change from the worry that ferreted in the otherwise easygoing Black Ranger’s mind. He could see the changes that the Island of Illusion brought out in the team, and more than once their powers have not quite responded to their wielders as they should have. Zack knew how his vision had affected him, and he knew he probably needed to talk to anyone about it, but he had not been able to bring himself up to doing it. His eyes came to rest on Billy, the genius sitting by himself and head buried in a book. The Blue Ranger seemed the worst for wear out of all of them, and seemed especially closed off when dealing with him and Jason. Coming to a spur of the moment decision, Zack walked purposefully towards his friend, determined to know what drove such a wedge between them and the resident genius.

 

“ Hey Billy. ”, he greeted the sandy-haired man as he pulled up the nearest free chair, and watched as Billy’s head shot up in surprise.

 

“ Zack.”, Billy stammered out, averting his eyes. “ To what do I owe the pleasure? ”

 

The African-American smirked: the tone of voice did not sit well with him. “ Care to talk to me about what happened? ”

 

Billy looked at his teammate, blinking. “ It is an inconsequential matter. ”

 

“ You’ve been acting very closed off around me and Jason, so it’s not… ‘inconsequential’. ”, Zack replied with sympathy. He could only imagine how the other boy felt right now. “ Listen… We’ve all been acting very wrong around each other, and maybe it’d be time to air it all out. We both know who’s to blame. Talk to me. ”

 

Billy recalled Zordon’s words, the admonishment he gave them when they came back from the Island. None of them acted on it, and instead they had instinctively reacted on the visions that each of them saw while in that enchanted place. They suffered because of it, their trust in the group and connection to the Grid had been slowly whittling away. He motioned for Zack to draw closer, and in a lowered voice opened up on his story. As he talked, he watched his friend’s face contort in a mask of disbelief. When he finally finished, silence fell between them, but Billy felt like he had gotten a burden off his chest, for better or for worse.

 

When Zack finally spoke up, all the cheerful disposition was gone from his voice. “ That sleazy…”, he started, then quickly reigned the rest of that sentence. They were in public. “ Listen, Billy, you’ve known Jason since you were kids, and you know there is *no* way he would ever say anything like that about you. And neither would I. Heck, you guys took me up so damn fast when I first moved here that I couldn’t believe my luck. ”

 

“ I am aware of that, and yet still it bothers me. ”, Billy admitted, looking down on his open book.

 

“ And that’s what she’d want, wouldn’t she? ”, Zack spat out, smirking. Taking a deep breath and lowering his voice, he told the details of his vision without asking if the other teen wanted to hear it. He needed to get it off his chest, and they needed to be frank with each other now more than ever. He watched Billy’s eyes widen behind the glasses in surprise, then settle in an expression of thoughtfulness as he finished his tale.

 

“ That is genuinely scary. ”, Billy commented, looking once again at the open book in front of himself. Suddenly studying lost its appeal.

 

“ I know, right? ”, Zack was sympathetic. “ But imagine my surprise when I found Tommy after that. And he was terrified. ”

 

“ Trini found me. We did discuss the fact that what we had gone through were illusions. But it is still terrifying to know how we still unconsciously allowed them free reign in our lives. ”, Billy’s shoulders sagged. That fact alone seemed like a small win for the witch, and Billy had no doubt that the performance of their powers was related to their currently disarray. Zordon had said as much, but they could’ve never have guessed what form the repercussions would take.

 

“ We need to talk to everyone…”, Zack stopped in mid-sentence as he caught the glimpse of Jason entering the establishment, demeanor sullen. The group had agreed to meet up at the Center earlier, but Jason was surprisingly late, while Tommy was nowhere to be seen. Now that his attention had been drawn outward, Zack noticed that the girls had left as well, and his brow furrowed. “ Kim and Trini were here earlier, right? ”

 

“ Affirmative. ”, Billy nodded, placing a bookmark among the well-kept pages in front of him and closing the book. He wouldn’t get any more reading done today. “ It is possible they have decided to take their practice outside. ”

 

“ Guess we’ll have to check. Hey Jase! ”, Zacked waved his friend over as he spotted him passing the establishment doorway. The teen in red pushed his way around the populated tables, a sheepish smile adorning his face.

 

“ Hey guys. Sorry for being so late. ”, Jason rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly. He noticed Billy tense ever so slightly and once again cursed Rita and her schemes. He could help mend Tommy’s trauma, but that someone dared to mess with Billy made his anger rise.

 

“ As long as you don’t start taking cues from Tommy, we’re good. ”, Zack cracked the joke and watched both of his friends’ faces light up with grins. For a moment, it seemed things were back to normal between them, but Zack knew it wouldn’t last.

 

“ I am not sure who do you take me for. ”, Jason replied, his fist barely glancing Zack’s shoulder in a mock punch.

 

“ Well since we all know that you do not have issues with memorizing your appointments, something else must’ve caused your tardiness. ”, Billy opined, and Jason could tell the Blue Ranger was concerned. It was almost normal.

 

“ Rough patch at home. ”, Jason shrugged by way of explanation. “ It is no big deal. ”

 

Zack gave his friend a lopsided glare, daring him to elaborate, but Jason seemed to be content to leave the topic alone. “ Jase, I was just telling Billy…”, he started, only for a six-toned beep to jolt them all from the discussion. Jason looked at his communicator with a scowl: yet another call to arms had saved him some explanations, and he was not sure whether to be elated or angry about it. The three boys did not need to say a word as they made a show about gathering their things and making their way out of the establishment under seemingly jovial pretenses. Jason only wished they could go back to not faking them.

* * *

When the teleportation stream finally revealed the familiar surroundings of the Command Center with its dimmed lights and consoles lit up by information streams, Tommy could not help but feel a sense of elation. It had occurred to him late that the offer to leave might have been an elaborate trap, but when the kaleidoscope of color finally cleared, he unconsciously let out a breath of relief when he saw the familiar chamber. He looked at giant head that was the permanent fixture of the chamber: the old sage seemed startled out of whatever reverie he had been in by Tommy’s unannounced arrival. Alpha 5 had whirled around in surprise, the eye lights of his visor pulsating rapidly.

 

“ Ay, yi, yi! Tommy! We were not expecting you. ”, Alpha cocked his head slightly to the side: the automaton detected high levels of stress in the teen.

 

“ It’s Rita again. ”, Tommy panted out, taking his morpher and handing it over for both Alpha and Zordon to see.

 

The sage’s brow furrowed as he saw the faintest outline dancing on the surface of the coin, and it did not take him long to sense that something what wrong with the Green Coin. “ ALPHA, CALL THE RANGERS AT ONCE. TOMMY, TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED EXACTLY. ”

 

Once the call came through, it did not take long for the rest of the teens to materialize in two separate color clumps, the boys to one side and the girls to another. Each of them wore a worried expression as every battle they fought since the Island seemed to get increasingly harder.

 

“ TOMMY, SHOW THEM YOUR COIN PLEASE. ”, Zordon instructed the Green Ranger. The group clustered around him as he held his morpher in the center of the circle of friends.

 

“ Has the coin been damaged? ”, Billy ventured the question as he observed, almost mesmerized, the pattern playing out on the coin.

 

“ RITA HAS BOUND THE COIN TO A CONSTRUCT THAT, WHEN TIME RUNS OUT, WILL COMPLETELY SAP THE POWER OF THE COIN AND STORE IT INTO A TEMPORARY VESSEL FOR THE WITCH TO USE AGAIN. ”, Zordon explained as the Viewing Globe lit up, its surface showing the familiar gloom of the Dark Dimension.

 

“ So what’s the plan? ”, Zack crossed his arms defiantly. This was not something they needed.

 

“ WE HAVE TO FIND A SUITABLE POINT OF DIMENSIONAL FLUX WHERE WE CAN OPEN A PORTAL TO THE DARK DIMENSION. ”, Zordon explained, his face giving nothing away. As he looked over the group in the chamber, he caught the worried bob of Alpha’s head behind the Rangers. Something else was wrong.

 

“ I’ll get right to it. ”, Billy nodded and, without waiting for further comments, left the chamber in search for the tools he’d need. Alpha inclined his head quizzically towards Zordon one last time, then vanished behind the chamber doors, on the heels of the Blue Ranger.

 

Zack eyed his friends in silence as the chamber doors closed behind the automaton. “ Guys, we need to talk. This has gone on long enough. ”, he finally stated, breaking the tense silence that had settled among them all.

 

“ You’re right. ”, Jason crossed his arms across his chest and looked at each of his friends in turn. None of them needed any further explanation. “ We’ll wait for Billy, though. Everyone needs to hear this. ”

 

Zordon looked at his team with no small degree of pride. This was the first step of staving off the insidious effects of the Island of Illusion, and he hoped that the teens could find it in themselves the ability to renew their trust in each other and in the Power they wielded. He watched as the Blue Ranger ambled back into the room, his arms cradling the toolbox and the materials he would need to build the machine that would take them to the Dark Dimension. Billy was moving slowly, his body constantly balancing on a tipping point, laden as he was with tools and parts. He set the parts gingerly on the floor, spreading them out in the center of the main chamber. Alpha wobbled through the doorway behind him, carrying in the remaining tools.

 

As Billy set to work, it was Jason who first broke the silence. He steadied his voice against the doubts that crept into his mind along with the memory of his time on the Island. As he talked, his hands instinctively reached for the morpher behind his back, and in return felt a comforting warmth emanating from the coin. It was a welcome sensation.

 

Trini picked up where Jason finished, but unlike their leader, she did not attempt to hide her uneasiness at the feelings the memory brought back. The more she spoke, the more she felt the vestiges of her consummate calm return to her, as if it were something that the Island had robbed her of, and only now did she reclaim it back. The coin in her pocket seemed to vibrate faintly within the morpher, as if it were reacting to her newly reclaimed serenity.

 

Bolstered by the example of the two friends, Billy was next to open up. He had set down the soldering iron and the screwdrivers, mind digressing from the work for the moment needed to dredge up that awful sense of insecurity. Sitting on his knees and eyes cast firmly down, his story took the group by surprise, most of all the two teens whose semblance has been so usurped. When he finished, the silence that descended was immediately broken by the clamor of his friends, and suddenly he was overwhelmed by a feeling of camaraderie that seemed lacking ever since they came back from the Island.

 

When the group settled again under Zordon’s watchful eyes, it was Tommy that spoke next. His story was familiar to the group, and as he described what he saw, his voice threatened to break down more than once. More than once since their return from the Island has he woken up thinking that maybe this time the nightmare was real. While he spoke, his hands held forlornly the morpher with the Green Coin, the item that had caused them all so much trouble. The fact that he might not hold the Green Power much longer carried with it sadness and relief: he would no longer be a danger to anyone.

 

Zack seemed a natural choice to pick up where Tommy had left off. His story was the least surprising, especially since everyone had shared his doubts at some point ever since they freed the Green Ranger from Rita’s clutches. It came as a sort of irony that they had decided to open up about the Island now that they had to bail the Green Ranger out of trouble once again. As he finished, his hand seemed to have found his morpher without conscious thought, and he could swear that for a moment the world seemed sharper.

 

When time came to her to share her side of the story, Kimberly looked down in embarrassment. She drew up all her courage and started talking, all her willpower now making sure her voice did not shake. She met sympathetic gazes when she met the eyes of her friends: her story resonated with what each of them experienced, and they all finally came together to overcome this particular hurdle. She picked her words carefully as she told her tale. Some things were meant to be talked about in private.

 

Silence finally descended on the chamber, marred only by the clanking of the tools as Billy worked on the device that would allow them to destroy the Green Candle. The teens idled in silence, but it was no longer an awkward, tense affair. Alpha slid between the spot where Billy was working in earnest and the computers. Zordon watched his team settle, a smile playing on his face. He could already tell that the connection of each Ranger to the Grid was being slowly restored to its proper level, and while it would take time for things to mend, this was a tremendous step forward. It would be one less thing for the ageless sage to worry about. His eyes fell on the computer screens only once, and when he next caught Alpha’s robotic gaze, the old sage gave a silent nod for the communication link to be terminated: the Red Ranger’s brother had not turned up. It was worrisome.

 

“ Device ready. ”, Billy announced as he moved aside the last of his tools, leaving in the center of the chamber two thickset metal poles, topped with coil-enveloped bulbs. The design was not elegant, but the whole thing had been a prototype, and Billy hoped that there would not be any last-minute glitches.

 

“ Ay yi yi! Well done, Blue Ranger! ”, Alpha quipped, moving to the nearest computer console. Robotic fingers danced across the keyboard and the screen soon lit up with a map. “ I have managed to approximate the location where a portal can be opened. ”

 

Billy frowned: the locator on the screen blinked on the border between the forest and one of the extensive green fields of the city. At this time, it would be full of people pursuing some peace and quiet. “ Shall we? ”, Billy asked the rest of the group, hoisting up the metal poles. Zack gave a slight shake of his head and took the device from the Blue Ranger’s hands, setting it on his shoulder: the Blue Ranger did enough of work today, and it was the least Zack felt he could do.

 

“ Let’s go get that candle. ”, Jason’s voice was confident as the group gathered around their leader. “ Tommy, you stick around here. We can’t risk Rita deciding to do something else to you while we’re busy with the candle.”

 

“ You got it. ”, the Green Ranger nodded, his voice hiding his uneasiness. “ Be careful, guys. ”

 

A chorus of encouraging words rose in reply, and the chamber was filled with the multicolored teleportation streak as the Rangers left the premises, leaving Tommy alone with Zordon and Alpha. The little automaton gave one last worried nod towards Zordon and then settled uneasily next to a console. All they could do now is wait.

* * *

The swirl of color finally faded to reveal the canopy of the forest over their heads. The group looked around: they had to land far enough from the intended area in order to make sure nobody stumbled upon them, or saw them appear. Trini was the first to orient herself and she motioned for the rest to follow her. They trudged along in single file, with Trini and Billy being the first ahead, followed by Zack who had to make sure the device he was carrying doesn’t get damaged. Jason and Kimberly followed close behind, Jason looking alert. There was no doubt Rita would not simply allow them to burst into the Dark Dimension unhindered.

 

Kimberly gave Jason a light tap, smiling sheepishly as he rounded on her, thinking something wrong. “ Can we talk? ”

 

“ Sure, Kim. ”, he replied with a relieved sigh. As Zack turned around to look at the two, Jason gave him a reassuring nod, and the Black Ranger moved onward. “ What’s wrong? ”

 

“ I need to talk to you about the Island. There’s something you need to know. ”, she started, voice stalling for a moment. She was terrified to proceed, and yet had to get this off her chest. Jason just nodded, and she could see how the look in his eyes softened even as their walk slowed down so they could talk: he always had time for her, no matter what. “ I didn’t want to do this in front of the others. There’s a little more to my story than what I already told. ”

 

“ Go on. ”, Jason was empathetic. It was hard on all of them to revisit the experiences of the Island.

 

“ The Island made me realize I had feelings for you, Jase. ”, Kimberly gulped, nervous. “ Not sisterly ones, but actual…” She scanned his face for any sign that he was going to rebuke her, and found nothing. “ I’m in love with you. There. Said it. Had to say it before we plunged into yet another deadly adventure. ”

 

Jason’s face lit up with a grin, but he did not say a word. Kimberly’s face betrayed her amusement: she expected to be rejected, to find out her childhood friend did not love her in that way. She expected something. Not this. “ Why are you grinning like the Cheshire cat, Jase? ”, she quipped as a tease.

 

“ Would you believe me if I told you I’d been trying to work up the nerve to ask you out for a while now? ”, he smiled, eyes glinting with amusement. “ I can apparently save the world, but I can’t seem to ask a girl out. ”, he finished with a short laugh.

 

Kimberly felt her heart skip a beat in happiness. She could scarcely believe it true that Jason felt the same way, but there he was, smiling broadly as if all of their cares melted away. “ Does that mean you’re going to ask me on a date now? ”, she asked mischievously.

 

“ I’d love to. ”, Jason nodded. “ Provided today doesn’t go any more wrong than it already did. ”

 

“ I definitely know what you mean. ”, Kimberly smirked, her face turning somber. “ You think Rita will ever leave Tommy alone? ”

 

“ At this rate, not a chance in Hell. ”, Jason’s face darkened. As if that question broke their momentary idyll, the full scope of their current problems came crashing back. Both of them looked around them, eyes resting on the back of their friends that walked farther in front of them, paving the way through the foliage of the forest.

 

Kimberly could see something else bothering Jason, written on his face as if it were a book only she could read. “What’s wrong, Jase? ”

 

Jason shook his head. “ It’s this. Tommy and his powers. And my brother. Fuck knows what Rita did to him. It’s all piling up. ”

 

“ Whatever it is, we’ll get to the bottom of it. ”, Kimberly tried to sound reassuring. She had no clue what kind of problems plagued the Lee Scott household following Kevin’s attempted enslavement, and she wouldn’t be surprised if she was the only one who openly knew about it. The two boys were alike when it came to keeping their issues close to the vest.

 

“ Yeah, hope you’re right.”, Jason sounded doubtful. They watched Zack turn around slightly in their direction and give them a quizzical look, to which they quickened the pace to reunite with the rest of the group. Kimberly noted that Zack had looked slightly troubled, and she wondered what kind of problems will they encounter now.

* * *

Rita watched the Rangers trudge through the forest and towards the spot where they thought a dimensional flux could be. She grinned. It had been easy to count on their haste and conjure something that resembled a point of dimensional flux at a glance, all the while the real thing was currently on a half hour hike. Of course, the Green Ranger had been spirited away, but the fact he was not participating in this battle did not stop her plans. The Green Candle would burn out unless Tommy Oliver rejoined her, and then the Green Power would again be hers. The matter of a vessel would be easily rectified.

 

Her mental gaze briefly passed over the Dark Dimension where Goldar was standing guard. She had noticed that the Camian was restless ever since he came in brief proximity of the Void, and she had hoped that this duty would remind him of his place, and give him a new focus. She wondered for a moment if anything of the power she had conjured rubbed off on the alien, but the dismissed it: given the turn of events, if it had, it would be already seen. Finally, she opened her eyes and her gaze came to rest upon the small, dog-faced alchemist that loitered around the throne room. She had asked Finster to attend her, and now she watched him squirm.

 

“ Finster, make me a monster, will you? ”, she half-asked, half-ordered, at which the little alien snapped to a fidgety type of attention. “ Let’s give the Rangers something to worry about while the Candle burns. ”

 

“ Of course, my Empress. Right away.”, the alien bowed deeply and scurried off into the depths of the Palace. Rita allowed herself a rare smile: today just might turn out to be a good day.

* * *

When they finally cleared the forest and he took a look at the scanner, Billy couldn’t help it but feel baffled. The screen showed distinct readings one moment, but absolute interference the next. He turned around himself, scanner in hand, and searched the clearing for anything out of the ordinary, but the place was clear of danger. Every now and then he’d spot someone passing by in the distance, but the pedestrians gave the motley group no attention. The signal again vanishing from the screen of his scanner, Billy adjusted his glasses nervously as he looked at the rest of the group slowly converging around him.

 

“ Something wrong, Billy? ”, Jason was the first to ask as they closed ranks around him.

 

The sandy-haired teen rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “ I can’t seem to get accurate readings of the area. This is supposed to be the flux point, but it does not behave like one.”

 

“ Looks like we might have to get the hell out of sight too.”, Zack grumbled, looking around them. “ Too many people around here.”

 

“ I definitely concur, Zack.”, Billy nodded, then pointed south-east along the clearing. “ We should be set moving down the clearing and into the forest.”

 

The group wordlessly fell into step behind the Blue Ranger. Zack looked most out of place, with the big poles across his shoulders. Jason had offered to shoulder the load for the next part of their walk, but Zack just shrugged him off. For the remaining ten minutes, they walked in silence, before they finally came to a stop where Billy gestured the group to stop.

 

“ We should be okay here. Zack, if you will…”

 

The Black Ranger carefully put the two poles down. Jason reached for one, while Zack took the other, and both teens stabbed them violently into the ground two meters apart from each other, turning the poles ever so slightly to screw them into the dirt and into place. Once the two boys finished and moved away, Billy keyed the scanner pad, and the coils sprang to life.

 

“ There’s good news, and bad news.”, Billy started, looking with concern at the readouts that the datapad gave him while the portal unfolded before the group. “ Good news is that we will successfully reach the Dark Dimension. The bad news is that the portal is unstable: morphing near it would likely collapse it. I recommend only one person to go through and attempt to reach the Candle. Any more and you might end up trapped instead.”

 

“ I’m going. ”, Jason spoke before anyone else could. “ This is my responsibility.”

  
“ Just don’t be a hero, Jase.”, Zack quipped. “ Get back here if you get into too much trouble. We’re keeping watch.”

 

“ Zack’s right, Jason.”, Trini spoke up calmly. “ We are more likely to overcome this without losing one of our own.”

 

“ Don’t worry guys. ”, Jason smiled, and for the first time in ages it was genuine. “ I don’t plan to get myself killed just yet.”

 

“ Remember what I told you, Jase.”, Kimberly gave her friend a mischievous grin. Jason returned the grin and stepped through the portal. In a ripple of light, he was gone.

* * *

Jason was taken aback by the otherworldly light that illuminated the Dark Dimension as he stepped through the portal. He could just barely make out the very faint smell of smoke in between the stale air, even before he set eyes on the table where the green candle burned. The teen froze in front of the portal as he locked eyes with Goldar, the alien sitting cross-legged on the floor at the table’s side. The golden sword was neatly placed across the alien’s armored legs, and he traced a gentle caress across the blade. When the alien’s eyes met Jason’s, Goldar stretched his wings almost lazily.

 

“ Red Ranger. ”, the camian drawled, sounding almost bored. “ You finally visit.”

 

“ I’m here for the candle, Goldar. ”, Jason growled, his hand reaching instinctively for his morpher. He froze in mid-movement as he remembered Billy’s words.

 

“ Of course you are. ”, Goldar rose up and brought his sword into its sheath. “ So the Green Ranger is not taking our offer. But he’s too much of a weakling to retake his Power by himself. So here you are, Zordon’s attack dog. ”

 

Jason felt his anger rise at Goldar’s casual disdain, but he refused to react to the insult. “ I’m getting that candle, and not you, nor Rita will stand in my way.”

 

The teen launched a kick straight at Goldar’s side, but the alien laughed and caught the kick with one of his hands, twisting deftly and sprawling Jason onto the floor. Jason sprang up once again, charging at the armored alien. The two briefly collided heads on, entangled in a grapple that would have easily turned sour for Jason until the teen stuck a weak point between the armor plates, causing the alien to release him. Once at a safe distance, Jason eyed the camian warily, unused as he was to Goldar’s calm.

 

“ Not up to much of a fight, are you Goldar? ”, Jason tried to goad the alien general into an attack, but was surprised when Goldar just shrugged in reply.

 

“ I know my place, Red Ranger. ”, Goldar answered cautiously, one eye looking to the ceiling as if he were expecting Rita’s face to appear at any moment. “ Speaking of fights, Red Ranger… How is your brother? Second person you’ve lost to us, is it? ”

 

Jason froze, and Goldar barked out a short laugh at seeing the teen stumped. “ Damn you. ”, Jason growled as he launched another attack. He projected a punch to the alien’s ribs, aiming for the discrepancy in his armor, but the moment the camian confidently prepared for it, he reversed his strike, hooking instead his arm around the camian’s and sidestepping behind him, levering the alien’s arm. Goldar stomped hard where Jason’s foot stood, and in evading what could have shattered his foot bones, Jason lost the leverage, breaking off the attack. He followed up with a swift kick in the small of Goldar’s back, sending the general stumbling briefly forward. When he tried to press his newfound advantage, Jason instead ran afoul of a vicious backhand, which he evaded in the nick of time, all at the cost of giving up on the attack. The two warriors sized each other up, but Jason’s stomach sank in desperation: the alien general had ages ahead of him in experience and an advantage in sheer bulk.

 

“ You know what I saw when I stood besides your brother, Red Ranger? ”, Goldar barred his teeth in a disdainful snarl as he spoke. “ I saw the end made manifest. He embraced destruction so incredibly easily. ”

 

“ He was what you and Rita made him into. ”, Jason growled back, hands balling into fists. “ You had done the same to Tommy. ”

 

Goldar laid a hand on the pommel of his sword. “ How sad. You still have no idea what you dealt with, Red Ranger. ”, the alien’s tone showed genuine disappointment. “ It’s quaint to see Zordon doesn’t trust you with that knowledge. ”

 

“ Your attempts to break our team apart are failing. ”, Jason shot back, yet his confidence was feigned. He was starting to be unsure of Goldar’s motives, and the alien’s calm was starting to set off alarms. His eyes darted on the candle which was inexorably burning and was already a quarter down. He steeled himself and launched into yet another attack.

* * *

Tommy’s hands fidgeted with the morpher as he paced in the Command Center. The Viewing Globe showed the Rangers on alert around the opened portal, but every minute without Jason emerging made Tommy’s nerves even more taut. They had no idea what was awaiting them in the Dark Dimension, and for all Tommy knew, he just sent his best friend into a trap from which there would be no return. He couldn’t help but picture all the nightmare scenarios that just lined up in his mind at the thought, and he regretted not going into the portal himself, despite his failing powers. Zordon was unusually quiet, while Alpha was scrambling between the computer consoles, making odd adjustments and in vain trying to get a picture of the Dark Dimension. It suddenly struck Tommy how quiet it was, and he realized someone was missing.

 

“ Zordon, where’s Kevin? ”, he abruptly asked, watching the warp-bound sage direct his gaze on him.

 

“ HE HAS NOT RESPONDED TO THE SUMMONS. ”, Zordon admitted, watching the Green Ranger’s face light up in surprise.

 

Tommy couldn’t believe his ears. Ever since they had brought the teen aboard, he had not missed a fight or an opportunity to help. “ Is he… ?” Tommy didn’t even dare to voice the thought, as if only saying it aloud could somehow make it a reality again.

 

“ NO.”, Zordon answered as the Viewing Globe picture split, the other picture showing two figures hard at training. “ HE IS SIMPLY NOT RESPONDING. ”

 

Tommy sighed. He could never really make heads or tails of the older teen, who hadn’t trusted him much ever since he tried to kill both him and Jason as the evil Green Ranger. Now, after the hapless incident in which their roles had been briefly reversed, Kevin had not been socializing at all with the Rangers, and it was a pain to actually guess what was going on in his head. Tommy had a faint idea, and it was only a version of his own nightmares.

 

Tommy drew a sigh. “ I guess that’s better than the alternative. ”

 

Zordon averted his eyes, unwilling to comment further on the topic. He spent every day weighting his decision not to say anything else to the Rangers, and he could not bring himself to add to their problems. Not yet. For a change, he wasn’t the least surprised that Rita had not been near the older teen since: Rita wasn’t that foolish not to recognize what a grave mistake she had made. Zordon was loathe to have to tackle this particular problem, as one misstep could end in disaster.

 

The alarm klaxons filled the chamber with deafening echoes as the Viewing Globe shifted its image to the newest detected threat. Both Tommy and Zordon watched as the newest monster, styled on the mythical cyclops, stomped its way into the city. They could see civilians rushing to get out of its way, and soon the streets nearest to the monster’s path were clogged with vehicles. Tommy mused how more efficient their services had gotten in dealing with the monster attacks: the traffic lights were overridden to allow for the people affected to evacuate the area, and police took to the streets in an effort to bring at least some order to the chaos.

 

“ I need to get down there. ”, he stated with desperation, turning to Zordon.

 

“ IF YOU MORPH, YOUR POWERS WILL DEPLETE FASTER. ”, the old sage advised, but knew that the teen didn’t ask for permission. “ RITA DID THIS ON PURPOSE TO DRAW YOU OUT AND STRETCH THE RANGERS THIN. ”

 

“ We can’t let the civilians pay for her obsession with the Green Power. ”, Tommy rebutted, taking up his morpher.

 

“ I KNOW, GREEN RANGER. MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU. ”, Zordon acknowledged with a nod as Tommy morphed. Zordon just hoped it wouldn’t be the last time he’d see the teen do that.

 

Once the Ranger vanished in a streak of green light, Zordon turned to Alpha. “ RESUME ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT THE RED RANGER’S BROTHER. WE NEED EVERYONE PRESENT NOW MORE THAN EVER. ”

* * *

Tommy awkwardly landed on the roof of a business building and watched with apprehension as the monster made its way through the streets of the city. The evacuation was going on all around him, and he could see a few people pointing towards his form, standing as he was on the edge. He gripped the Dragon Dagger tightly and then brought the handle to the helmet’s mouth, his fingers automatically playing once again the familiar melody to awaken his Zord.

The effect was instant: water splashed upward from the port as the machine rose from the sea, answering the call of its master. The Zord stomped awkwardly onto shore, and the monster immediately turned to face the newcomer. Not wanting to risk anything, Tommy teleported to the cockpit, landing at the familiar controls with ease. He rarely had to pilot the Dragon Zord in this manner, and that’s what made it something he actually enjoyed. Remembering Zordon’s words, he hoped this wouldn’t be the last time he’d be at the seat of the majestic Zord.

 

It wasn’t long before the cyclops closed in, swinging its club in clumsy motions at the machine facing it. Tommy carefully maneuvered, step by step drawing the monster away from the city once more. They passed damaged streets and half-demolished houses, and Tommy felt anger at all the losses the monster managed to incur. Once clear of the city, he allowed himself free reign: missiles sprung from the Zord’s fingertips, making their way into the monster’s hide. The effect was not all the Green Ranger expected: the missiles left scorch marks on the monster, but the being didn’t seem too worried about the bleeding points. The heavy club slammed against the Zord’s chest, sending Tommy reeling as he tried to re-balance the machine. The controls answered sluggishly, and Tommy wondered if the drain to his powers was already starting to be felt.

 

The bright flash in the monster’s one eye caught him off-guard, and a lance of bright light scored a line across the Zord’s front. Tommy’s hands worked frantically across the controls even as multiple joint sensors reported minor heat damage. The machine tilted sideways in response, and the Ranger had a tough time keeping it steady. The monster advanced on him once again, and this time Tommy knew what to look for. He primed another volley of rockets and aimed at the creature’s face, hoping that it’ll buy him some time. As the missiles twirled towards their target, Tommy silently cursed to himself and couldn’t help but worry for his friends on the ground.

* * *

The first tremors that reached the group were just barely felt, and one could almost be excused for thinking of imagining the whole thing. But the ones that followed the appearance of the monster sent the civilians into panic. The group of Rangers watched from afar as people who up until now had enjoyed their day in the sun now ran for their lives. The monster was nowhere near them, yet they knew that could easily change in the following minutes. However, once the Dragon Zord appeared on the horizon, the group drew a temporary collective sign of elation before they were reminded that it was their vulnerable teammate out there fighting.

 

Billy almost leaned on one of the poles that steadily kept the portal open and watched Zack pace around. He thumbed his communicator and spoke quietly. “ Zordon, what’s going on? ”

 

“ RITA HAS THROWN IN A DISTRACTION FOR US, BLUE RANGER. ”, the old sage’s voice boomed out of the device. “ HAS THERE BEEN ANY NEWS OF JASON? ”

 

“ Negative. He has yet to get out of the Dark Dimension. ”, Billy’s reply was uneasy as he met Kimberly’s worried gaze. He saw the petite brunette fidget around even more than usual, and wondered about what had passed between her and Jason while they had been walking.

 

“ TOMMY DOESN’T HAVE LONG. ”, Zordon stated gravely, “ IF JASON DOES NOT REACH THE CANDLE SOON, WE SHALL LOSE BOTH HIS POWERS AND HIM.”

 

The teens looked at each other in horror and then at the shimmering portal. The tear it created in the air now looked back at them like a single eye of the monster that threatened the city. One of them would have to risk going in and helping Jason, despite what the other side held.

* * *

An overhead slash whizzed past his head as Kevin ducked and then brought up his own sword to bear upwards. The blade met air as the older man moved aside, his sword already making a line for Kevin’s abdomen. The teen barely caught the incoming strike with his own sword, and the two blades clanged against one another. Twirling around, he went for a savage kick into the man’s side, and as the move successfully landed, he bought some time for himself. The two combatants were not separate for long, and in the next moment they were locked again in a lethal dance. Kevin felt anger and frustration of the last two hours rising, and he lashed out with a series of strikes that forced the man backwards. Surprise passed across his opponent’s face: he had not expected the aggressive push back. Time seemed to have lost all meaning as the teen brutally pushed his advantage, his body feeling oddly invigorated. The man’s eyes widened: the teen’s eyes had flashed with an otherworldly glow that seemed to return every so often as they exchanged strikes. Wasting no time, the man deftly slid under one of Kevin’s strikes, and in the next moment his blade crashed against the teen’s arm with full force. The swords were blunt, but no less dangerous, and the teen staggered out of his attack.

 

“ Enough!”, the man roared, reversing the blow and delivering a pommel strike into Kevin’s jaw, sending the teen’s crashing against the wall of the house. He lowered his sword as Kevin sank to his knees into the dust of the back yard, weapon discarded and eyes glassed over. He shook his head in disapproval: giving his student a concussion was the last thing he had wanted, but the increasing aggression and the look in the teen’s eyes had forced him to take drastic measures.

 

“ This cannot go on. What has happened to you? ”, the question was spoken in a soft voice, and the _sensei_ knelt next to his student.

 

Kevin shook his head as the ringing in his ears subsided. The fire that had so abruptly roared to life in his chest now ebbed to nothing, and he met the worried gaze of his teacher. “ My apologies, _sensei_ Takeda. I… ”, his voice shook: for a moment he caught the retreating echoes of something far darker just beyond his senses. To lose his cool with his brother was one thing, but the fact that it suddenly escalated in such a manner with his teacher sent Kevin reeling. He felt like a walking time bomb.

 

“ We need to talk. ”, the man motioned for Kevin to follow him back into the house. It took the teen another painful few minutes to comply, and the two were soon sitting comfortably on the sofa. “ You have changed in the last weeks ”, he stated, noting the teen’s hands bunched tight into fists. He seemed even more restless than usual.

 

“ Sir. It will not happen again.”, Kevin’s eyes were downcast, staring intently at his fists. “ I promise.”

 

“ I don’t need your promises. I need to know why discipline comes harder all of a sudden.”, the teacher’s voice rebuked him in frustration. Here was his prized student, devoid of his usual calm manner, and rattled by something the older man just couldn’t pin. However, one other thing was far more familiar. “ What’s wrong with you? What’s with your eyes? ”

 

“ I’m fine, sir. ”, Kevin’s head shot up in surprise as he stammered out the reply. “ My eyes are fine. I’m just a little tired, sir. ”

 

The man frowned in answer. The boy seemed sincere enough, and that meant he was not aware of the little detail that had just happened in the middle of the fight. And just like that, the man allowed himself to see again, properly see. Brush off old skills he had hidden so well he had almost forgotten he had them. The new reality that unfolded in front of him caused him to tighten his fists. How long had this been going on? How long was his student in this predicament? The questions just kept multiplying, until he finally came to one of the most important ones. How does one break a lifetime of secrecy? It left him at a loss for words. However, something unexpected came to his aid, both making his job easier and confirming every ferreting doubt he might have had up until now. A faint chime made itself heard across the room, coming from the teen’s backpack that was half-forgotten in the hallway. He heard it a dozen times now, but never until now did it strike a chord of recognition within him. It had been a long time indeed, and the past had to catch up to him sooner or later.

 

“ Something of yours? ”, the teacher ventured, watching Kevin’s face darken for a second.

 

“ Sorry, sir. I’ll shut it off. ”, the teen answered tersely, striding to the hallway and retrieving his backpack. He fished out the watch device out of the bag for just a moment and with a deft movement the beeping sound was no longer heard.

 

“ Usually you would run off whenever you’d hear it. ”, the teacher commented with a frown. “ Not today? ”

 

“I forgot to turn the alarm off, sir. Canceled obligations. ”, Kevin replied uneasily, now settling back on the sofa with the backpack next to him. He did not want to be in the proximity of the Rangers more than he had to, nor did he feel comfortable in their sanctum anymore. His attempt at their destruction loomed over him like an oppressive dark cloud and now seemed to seep into his everyday life at an alarming rate.

 

The man sighed. “ Answer that like you’ve answered it every time.” Watching Kevin’s surprised face, he smiled mirthlessly. “ Since a little more than four months now you’ve answered summons meant for a Ranger. You stopped recently. I want you to answer again.” As Kevin opened his mouth to protest, the teacher forestalled the attempt with a raised hand. “ Please, do not try to make a fool of me. Just do as I say. I have a feeling I will have to have a few words with the mentor of the Rangers. You’ve been dealt a grave wrong. ”

 

Kevin just blinked in response, every retort just dying inside his mind. Just as he thought that the world couldn’t make less sense, it seemed to want to prove him wrong. He fished out his communicator once again, leaving the bag half open on the sofa. Both men stood up and Kevin gently placed a hand on his teacher’s shoulder. His finger found the teleportation stud and both men vanished from the living room in a steak of gray light.

 

When the kaleidoscope of color finally faded and Kevin found himself in the familiar confines of the Command Center, he met the surprised gaze of Zordon: the old sage was caught flat-footed by the visitor that came in with him. The teacher, for his part, squared himself, eying the being in front of him, heedless of the automaton that had stopped at the side of a console. If the man was astonished by his surroundings, he did not show it.

 

Zordon spoke first, and Kevin filched at the sound of the sage’s voice. He did not hear Zordon speak with disdain before. " Syrek. "

 

The man, for his part, gave an unamused smile, but his voice carried the bitterness of ages. " Zordon. I should have known. "

* * *

Jason knelt on the cold stone that paved the floor of the Dark Dimension, his lip bleeding. He drew in a mouthful of air, feeling his chest painfully contract where the camian had struck with his armored hand. It was only a momentary respite before he would lunge for yet another attack. The flame of the candle tantalized him, even as the candle seemed to have started to burn faster, and it was steadily dipping below half, with the green wax running onto the table. Goldar stood opposite of him, the alien showing signs of fatigue as well. Jason let himself a small smile: if Tommy’s powers weren’t on the line, he would’ve enjoyed this challenge.

 

Goldar rubbed all the spots where the human had found his mark in between the golden armor. He had often underestimated the Red Ranger, seeing him as a member of an inferior species, but this was one of those rare times where Goldar could appreciate the human’s tenacity. He had to yet reach for his sword: he played a careful game all on his own now, and simply dispatching the Red Ranger did not figure in his plans. He would go along with Rita’s plan, but in the long run, Goldar hoped his instinct was right. He would need to act soon.

 

The two fighters did not circle around each other, instead each standing his ground at one side of the room. Jason sprung up yet again, launching a series of feints before landing a kick into Goldar’s jaw. The camian took the blow and dazedly pushed Jason away from him. Jason was pretty sure he heard a faint crack where the hit had landed. As he landed and sprung for the candle, Goldar reached out, driving a vicious side punch that aimed for Jason’s ribs. The blow passed Jason by as the teen had to abruptly stop, but then reversed into a backhand that almost lifted him off his feet.

 

As Jason landed on his back, Goldar just stood there shaking his head. The alien was still feeling the hit. “ Why do you insist on doing this alone, Red Ranger? ”, he questioned the teen tentatively. “ Usually you Rangers do everything as a group. ”

 

“ And get stranded here? Don’t think so, Goldar. ”, Jason answered coarsely as he slowly got back to his feet.

 

Goldar stiffened a little. Of course, it would be just like Rita to provide some ulterior distraction for the Rangers to deal with. He took a look at the candle and inwardly sighed: it would have been so much better if he could have just feigned defeat and let the Rangers take the damn thing away. Now the facts were stacked against him.

 

“ You’ll just have to keep trying then, Red Ranger. ”, Goldar goaded Jason on. He knew the Red Ranger was not going to quit so easily, and just waited for the human to give him an excuse.

 

As the two combatants readied themselves once again, a ripple behind Jason heralded someone else coming through. When Zack poked his head out of the portal, Goldar’s hopes soared: maybe now he could get out of this obligation.

 

Zack tapped Jason’s shoulder and winced when Jason turned around: the signs of battle were pretty evident in the way Jason held himself. “ Jase, we need you out of here, now. ”

 

“ I can still get this, Zack. ”, Jason panted in response, eying Goldar suspiciously.

 

“ Rita has sent a monster down and Tommy went to fight it. If we don’t go help him now, he’s done for. ”, Zack admonished their leader back, and Jason froze in horror. “ We can go back for the Candle after we deal with the damn thing. ”

 

Without another word, Zack retreated through the portal and Jason followed, leaving Goldar in the empty room alone. The alien general took a look at the candle, tightened his fists and cursed profusely.

* * *

The Dragon Zord stumbled as another club hit landed on its shoulder. Tommy tried in vain to rotate the machine to deliver a blow with its tail drill, but the Zord’s controls have gotten more sluggish by the minute. Various modules took turns failing sporadically, only to turn on again moments later. He knew that his powers were draining fast, and as the cyclops readied yet another eye beam, Tommy scrambled to get the Zord out of its way. The lance of energy hit one of the Zord’s legs instead, and the machine knelt into the dust. In defiance, Tommy let loose the last volley of missiles that he expected to fire, and explosions peppered the monster’s chest.

When the ground shook again, Tommy looked with trepidation as the Megazord bounded towards the monster, sword barred at the ready. The monster took a swing at the newcomer, but the club swung against the Megazord’s free arm, and the machine just batted the thing away from itself. A small chime told Tommy that the communications line was now open.

 

“ You okay, Tommy? ”, Zack’s voice came over the line, and Tommy smiled to himself.

 

“ You guys arrived just in time. ”, the Green Ranger answered, slowly righting his wounded Zord. “ What happened? ”

 

“ We’re getting the Candle after we’re done with this creep. ”, Jason’s voice was pure steel.

 

“ Your energy readouts show you at a bare thirty percent and failing. ”, Billy chimed in with worry as the monster readied another beam that shortly lanced out from its eye. “ You need to retreat before your powers dissipate completely. ”

 

“ I’m sure I can take it down with you guys. ”. Tommy was adamant to stay, even if it meant that it would be his last fight. He came this far and he wasn’t about to back off now.

 

“ Any idea how to take this thing down? ”, Zack grumbled as yet another beam flashed across the Megazord’s path.

 

Unsurprisingly, it was Billy that immediately spoke up. “ Aim for the eye. The beam appears to daze him. ”

 

In acknowledgment of the Blue Ranger’s assessment, the Megazord sidestepped, parrying another club blow that clumsily came towards it with its sword. Another beam was ready to greet them, but this time the Rangers were ready. The machine kicked its way through the monster’s guard and as the creature spread its arms wide, the Megazord jumped forward, stabbing the tip of the sword right thought the single eye. Power flashed through the mighty weapon and an explosion rewarded the Rangers’ efforts. When the dust cleared, only the damaged Dragonzord and the Megazord were left overseeing the battlefield. Under commands of their pilots, the individual Zords decoupled and moved back to their bays, while the Dragonzord lumbered slowly back into the sea.

* * *

 

As soon as the Rangers arrived in the Command Center, they were taken aback by the tableau in front of them. Kevin stood still to one side, head bowed, as if he were a statue. Kevin’s teacher had taken the center of the chamber and glared at Zordon, while the old sage gave the man in front of him a look of disdain the teens have never seen him have. The arrival of the Rangers did nothing to break the tension that permeated the room. Alpha was standing next to Kevin, lightly touching the boy’s arm in a gesture of reassurance, to then move towards the newly-arrived group.

 

What broke the stalemate was the flickering of Tommy’s suit as erratic lines of power flashed across his form. Jason cursed under his breath as the Green Ranger uniform faded in and out of existence, and Trini steadied the suddenly weak Green Ranger.

 

Zordon’s eyes snapped towards the group. “ RANGERS. YOU HAVE RETURNED.”, his voice was neutral as he took in the sight of his Chosen.

 

“ I failed, Zordon. ”, Jason stepped forward, but his eyes peeled on the floor. “ I couldn’t get past Golder to the Candle. ”

 

“ RITA DEALT A MASTERFUL STROKE OF SUBTERFUGE. ”, Zordon said gravely as the computer screens streamed information for everyone to see. “ SHE ROPED US INTO ENTERING THE DARK DIMENSION IN A PLACE WHERE YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO MORPH WITHOUT BEING STRANDED. EVERYTHING WAS AGAINST YOU SUCCEEDING, RED RANGER. THE BLAME IS NOT YOURS.”

 

Zordon then turned towards Tommy, and when he spoke next, his voice was sad. “ THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO SAVE YOUR POWERS, GREEN RANGER. YOU WILL HAVE TO PASS WHAT IS LEFT OF YOUR POWER TO ANOTHER RANGER. I AM AFRAID THAT THE GREEN POWER WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO STAND ALONE. THE DAMAGE WROUGHT BY RITA IS ONE I CANNOT SAFELY MEND BY MYSELF. BY PASSING THE POWER TO ANOTHER RANGER, THE GREEN CANDLE WILL NO LONGER BE EFFECTIVE.”

 

Tommy demorphed and took out the coin from its holding place. The golden metal shone at him, and he felt a knot form in his stomach. On one hand, he would no longer be a Ranger, and he would no longer present a target for Rita, but on the other, he considered that he was about to lose the camaraderie of the best friends he had ever found. He looked over the assembled Rangers, each of them with their helmets off, and neither of them willing to meet his eyes at a time like this.

 

Finally making his decision, he thrust the coin into Jason’s hand and pressed it there. “ It’s yours Jase. ”

 

Jason’s voice choked up in surprise. “ Tommy, I can’t…”

 

“ I know it’ll be safe with you. ”, Tommy said with a smile. “ And I know you’ll put it to good use. It’s not your fault, Jase.”

 

As Jason closed his eyes and nodded in acknowledgment, a bolt of lightning shot from Zordon’s tube and arced between the two coins. Jason felt a new power rush within him, and when he opened his eyes, his chest was covered by the Dragon Shield and at his hip, opposite of his Blade Blaster, hung the Dragon Dagger in its scabbard.

 

Every one of the Rangers demorphed and pulled Tommy in a tight group hug, heedless of the four onlookers. They wanted their teammate to know he wasn’t going to be abandoned.

 

“ Don’t think this gets out of that sparring match, man. ”, Zack was the first to chime in, and it brought laughter out of everyone.

 

“ You’re still part of our group, Tommy. ”, Kimberly smiled at him, and Tommy couldn’t help but smile back. Any time Kimberly smiled, it was definitely contagious.

 

The sentiment was picked up by the rest of the group, but only Jason moved quietly aside. He came to stand next to his brother, who was just observing with his expression carefully neutral. Jason, however, knew how to recognize when his brother was tense, and right now, he was sure this was the last place his brother wanted to be.

 

“ What’s going on? ”, Jason whispered, scanning his brother’s face for any reaction.

 

“ I don’t know. ”, came the whisper back, all the while Kevin did not avert his eyes from the two figures. He was trying hard to keep himself still against his reluctance to be here. He could feel something stir within him, and he had no idea what it was. It had made him restless, but worse of all, it made him not trust himself. After what happened, he felt like he could never trust himself around others again.

 

Finally, Kevin’s teacher spoke, his voice carrying clear with authority. “ Now that everyone’s here, we might as well get this show on the road. ”, the man stated. “ What do you think you’re doing, Zordon? ”

 

“ THE WILL OF THE COUNCIL.”, the sage replied gravely, returning his gaze on the man in front of him.

 

“ Really? Is it the will of the Council to rob one of his rightful place?”, the man retorted back, straightening himself up with a frown.

 

“ THAT POWER IS TOO DANGEROUS. ”, Zordon admonished.

 

“ Oh, how very diplomatic of you!”, the teacher exclaimed in exasperation. The assembled teens just looked in bewilderment at the brewing argument. “ Once upon a time you spoke your mind clearly. ”

 

“ THE LAST INCIDENT WAS THE LAST STRAW, AND YOU KNOW THAT. ”, the trapped sage boomed with a shake of his head.

 

“ The last incident was your damn fault! YOU did not have the spine to bend the rules for once!”, suddenly the sensei took a few menacing steps towards the tube, and both Jason and Tommy stepped forward instinctively, yet unsure what exactly they planned to do.

 

Zordon, for the first time in the span the Rangers knew him, looked ashamed. “ I KNOW THAT. IT CHANGES NOTHING. ”

 

“ Can someone explain what the Hell’s going on?”, it was Zack that raised his voice, and his question was greeted by silence. Jason and Tommy stepped back to lean against the consoles while the man’s shoulders slumped in resignation.

 

“ RANGERS, MY APOLOGIES. ”, Zordon started, turning to the group. “ I REALIZE INTRODUCTIONS SHOULD BE IN ORDER. THIS IS SYREK DARSHIN, NATIVE TO LAYALE, A FORMER RED RANGER. ”

 

The teacher-turned-former-Ranger did a small flourish at the introduction. “ Former Red Guardian, at your service. Zordon, once upon a time, served as the White Guardian. ”

 

“ We did not have any knowledge of such a team. ”, Billy commented, his eyes shining with curiosity. It was not every day you learned of a new team.

 

“ And knowing Zordon, you probably wouldn’t have known. ”, Syrek shot back bitterly, but the teens were taken aback at how sad the man looked for just a moment.

 

“ Then, as former teammates, why such animosity? ”, Billy was insistent.

 

“ I’ll leave Zordon to tell the story. It’s apparently the only thing he’s good at these days. ”, the former Ranger shrugged off the question, and the last remark was scalding. “ I am currently here for one thing only. The weapon. ”

 

“ IT WILL STAY IN STASIS UNTIL I MANAGE TO CONTACT THE COUNCIL. ”, Zordon was firm, but the group noticed he did not meet his former teammate’s eyes anymore.

 

“ Did it occur to you that they have no say in the matter? ”, the question was posed almost sarcastically.

 

“ THE DECREE IS FOR THE BEST. ”, Zordon was adamant.

 

“ You are toying with a life! ”, Syrek’s voice boomed with anger, his hands balling up in fists almost instinctively. When Zordon looked down, not answering, he continued. “ How long has this been going on? Couldn’t you fucking see he has bonded to the Power already and it’s burning him out from the inside?! ”

 

“ Excuse me. ”, Billy quipped once again, once again voicing everyone’s confusion. “I am afraid we are still at a loss what exactly seems to be the matter here. ”

 

The old Red Ranger sighed. “ It is him.”, he explained simply, pointing a finger at Kevin, at which the older teen flinched in surprise.

 

“ Wait… What?”, Kevin could just stammer out as all eyes went on him. For an instant, he knew how a deer under headlights felt.

 

“ I have traveled through the ages with the specific task to mentor people like you. ”, the man explained. “ As it is right now, your time is limited. The details will have to follow as your training proceeds. ”

 

Kevin looked at the rest of the group incredulously, eyebrows raised. This day just got a whole lot weirder, and that was saying a lot for a person who associated with the Power Rangers.

 

The other man resumed his stance, giving Zordon a frown. “ Zordon, you cannot deny him this. ”

 

“ HE HAS TO SUBMIT TO THE COUNCIL FOR TESTING. ”, Zordon rebutted.

 

“ We both know the Council has not given any chance to the likes of him. ”, the alien was exasperated yet again. “ They will kill him. If the Power doesn’t. ”

 

“ Could you two not talk like we’re not present? ”, Kevin raised his voice, breaking once again the mounting tension in the room.

 

“ What’s going on, Zordon? ”, Jason asked in concern, while Goldar’s words reared their ugly head. The camian had spoken of things kept from the group and now everything just seemed to escalate. The two teammates had been so intent in their argument that they had again completely forgotten about the group of teens that stood there, stunned, as the argument had picked up.

 

“ JASON, YOUR BROTHER HAS ALL THE MARKINGS OF A POTENTIAL GUARDIAN RANGER. ”, Zordon finally explained. “ HOWEVER, IT IS A DANGEROUS POWER. ”

 

“ Stop bullshitting. ”, the other alien retorted with a grumble, “ Zordon, like many others, does not want to see another Guardian of your brother’s type. Except he has no say anymore in whether or not to allow Kevin to bond with the Power. It’s done.”

 

“ IT CAN YET BE REVERSED.”, Zordon duly interjected.

 

“ Stop deluding yourself. We both know the drill. ”, the old Red Ranger sighed. “ The Ranger Council can no more reverse this than we can change the course of the stars with our bare hands. Over ten thousand years has the Grid been denied a Chosen of his archetype. Now that it has got one, he has to go to the end of the line. ”

 

“ ALPHA, IF YOU WOULD BRING IN THE SWORD. ”, Zordon finally asked of the little automaton, to which the little robot silently left the room, only to return a short time later with the sword held aloft in a mag field. “ YOU KNOW THAT THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THIS DECISION ARE ON YOUR HANDS. ”

 

“ As if it would be the first time.”, Syrek commented darkly, beckoning for Kevin to pick up the floating weapon. “Move. ” The old man clasped Kevin’s arm tightly and the two vanished in streaks of gray. The room plunged in silence following their departure, the Rangers looking at each other uncertainly.

 

“ Zordon, what’s he talking about?”, Jason broke the silence, his voice concerned. “ Goldar told me we had no idea what we were facing. What is wrong with my brother? ”

 

“ JASON, PLEASE, DO NOT BE ALARMED.”, Zordon tried to reassure the Red Ranger with confidence he did not feel, “ EVERYTHING WILL BE EXPLAINED IN DUE TIME.”

 

Jason scowled, then stepped forward, fists clenched. “ Zordon, I trust you. We all do. We have trusted you with our lives since we took up these powers. ”, the teen drew a deep breath, “ But… I won’t be kept in the dark. This is my family we’re talking about. ”

 

Zordon nodded gravely, acknowledging that the Red Ranger was right. “ WHAT RITA DID TO YOUR BROTHER… THIS WAS NO SIMPLE MIND CONTROL SPELL, THE LIKE OF WHICH TOMMY WAS VICTIM. ” As he talked, the sage felt how the Rangers clung to his every word. “ IN ORDER TO GET THE WARRIOR SHE DESIRED, SHE OFFERED HIM TO SOMETHING NOT OF THIS REALITY. WHAT YOU SAW WAS NOT A MIND CONTROLLED PUPPET. PART OF HIM ACCEPTED WILLINGLY, SUBTLY GUIDED AND AUGMENTED BY THE POWER THAT TOOK RESIDENCE WITHIN HIM. IT IS SOMETHING HE HAS A POTENTIAL TO BECOME, SHOULD HE MAKE THE DECISION TO WALK THE WRONG PATH.”

 

“ But Zordon, he’d never…”, Jason started, only to be silenced by the sage with a look.

 

“ ALL IT TAKES IS GOOD INTENTION TO START DOWN THAT ROAD. ”, Zordon admonished. “ HE DID NOT HAVE ANY CHOICE THIS TIME. HIS MIND HAD BEEN LAID BARE FOR THE SUMMONED FORCES TO TAMPER WITH. MOST DO NOT SURVIVE THE ORDEAL. THE RESISTANCE THEY OFFER DRIVES THEM MAD AND KILLS THEM. THOSE THAT DO SURVIVE AND REJECT THIS POWER, VERY FEW ACROSS THE AGES, ARE NEVER THE SAME AGAIN. THE VAST MAJORITY THAT SUCCUMBED, ASSUMED TO HAVE DONE SO WILLINGLY IN THE END, BECAME SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY NOT OF THIS REALITY AND USHERED IN HORRORS. ”

 

“ So such an event would make one a volatile choice to carry any kind of Ranger power, which would account for your cause of concern.”, Billy voiced his opinion following the silence that settled after Zordon’s explanation.

 

“ YOU ARE CORRECT, BLUE RANGER.”, Zordon nodded his assent. “ KNOW THAT IF FOR WHATEVER REASON KEVIN SEARCHES FOR THE ENTITY THAT MARKED HIM, HE WILL BE LOST AND THE UNIVERSE WILL BE IN GREAT PERIL. WHATEVER ENTITY ANSWERED RITA’S CALL, IT CHOSE HIM BASED ON THE POTENTIAL IT SAW IN HIM. AND THAT DARKNESS WILL NEVER LEAVE. ”

 

Silence descended on the group. The teens looked at one another in concern, the implication of Zordon’s words finally hitting home. “ Is there any way to prevent it? ”, Jason finally spoke up, looking almost expectantly at the warp-bound sage.

 

“ NO. HAD I KNOWN MY FORMER TEAMMATE WAS HERE, I WOULD HAVE ACTED DIFFERENTLY. DARSHIN ALWAYS HAD A TALENT FOR SUBTLETY THAT SEEMED AT ODDS WITH HIS POSITION AS A RED RANGER. ”, Zordon admitted. Jason’s shoulders sagged as he turned to the rest of the group.

 

“ Guys, you mind waiting for me at the Youth Center? ”, he asked. “ I’d like to talk to Zordon alone. ”

 

Zack clasped Tommy’s shoulder, which made the other teen jump up in surprise. “ Sure thing, Jase. This guy needs a cheering up anyways.”, he said with a laugh, meeting Tommy’s mock glare with a wide grin. Kimberly, Trini and Billy just nodded in sympathy and the Rangers vanished in a multicolored column.

 

The fleeting smile that appeared on Jason’s face as he saw his friends leave in good spirits faded, and he turned towards their mentor once again. “ What happens if Kevin doesn’t pursue his potential as a Ranger? ”

 

Zordon watched his Red Ranger square himself fully, and the ancient sage felt pride and sadness in equal measure. “ THE CHANNELING OF THE POWER WILL GROW INCREASINGLY ERRATIC. WITHOUT TRAINING AND PREPARATION, IT WILL SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL, OVERLOAD HIS SYNAPSES AND KILL HIM. I ASSUME YOU HAVE ALREADY SEEN THE EFFECTS THAT UNCONTROLLED BONDING HAS HAD ON HIM.”

 

Jason nodded: it explained the flashes in his brother’s eyes following his temperament and the hyperactivity that surfaced these days. The fact that it was coupled with something darker gave Jason pause. “ And if he pursues it?”, he asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

 

“ HE WILL LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY BEAR THE RIGORS OF CHANNELING THE POWER FROM THE MORPHIN GRID, AND HIS PHYSIOLOGY WILL CONSEQUENTLY ADAPT. HOWEVER, HE IS A CHOSEN FOR A POWER WHOSE BASE ARCHETYPE MAKES FOR EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WIELDERS. COUPLED WITH THIS… ‘MARK’ , IT IS MOST SURELY A RECIPE FOR A DISASTER. ”, Zordon explained.

 

“ Yet your teammate doesn’t know. He doesn’t know what happened to Kevin. Doesn’t know he might be a target again. ”, Jason said with realization dawning on his face and Zordon only nodded. The sage seemed reluctant to speak of that part of his past. “ But instead of helping him stay on the right path, you would’ve left my brother hanging. After everything he’s done.”, the statement was delivered coldly.

 

“ IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A SAFER ALTERNATIVE ON A BIGGER SCALE.”, Zordon stated, watching the Red Ranger shift uncomfortably. “AS SYREK SAID, IT HAS BEEN DONE FOR TEN THOUSAND YEARS ALREADY. THE NATURE OF THAT PARTICULAR GUARDIAN POWER IS DANGEROUS ENOUGH. ”

 

“ But that doesn’t make it right, does it? Aren’t you ashamed? ”, Jason replied bluntly and triggered his communicator, teleporting out without giving Zordon the time to answer back. The old sage closed his eyes, the words painfully striking home. He had trusted the system, but Jason’s simple statement rang more true than any excuse the Ranger Council ever told itself. They had allowed themselves to replace trust in Rangers with fear, and those innocent of any crime paid the price. Potential Chosen were executed on a mere hunch and empty fear. Zordon was almost grateful his Chosen had not known how many had died.

 

Jason visited the Youth Center very briefly, only to reassure his friends that everything was in order, all the while resenting the fake smile he had to put up to do it. He met Tommy’s eyes once, the teen intent on listening to Zack do another one of his impersonations. But Jason did not feel like socializing, and he excused himself, instead opting to spend some quiet time in his self-designated quiet place in the park. He wondered how today could have gone so wrong: he lost Tommy’s powers, and found out that his brother could’ve died. Idly, he wondered how Kevin was doing. The fact that all this time he’d been monitored and trained by an alien, a former Ranger no less, must’ve been quite a shock. Zordon’s grim suspicions had pulled with themselves memories of few weeks ago, and the revelation about the nature of the spell gave Jason pause. He wondered if Kevin knew the repercussions of what had happened to him. Whether or not he knew, he had been actively running away from the aftermath, and from the people that could’ve helped him weather it. Jason knew he’d have to talk to his brother, before the combination of the lingering effects of the spell and the Power that bonded to Kevin sent him into a self-destructive spiral. Little did he know he and Zordon wouldn’t be the only ones keeping an eye out.

 


	6. Warnings

The hot Californian sun bathed the streets of Angel Grove with an intense light while at the same time, a cool breeze was blowing from the direction of the ocean, making the day perfect for outdoor activity. People were passing hurriedly around the city, going about their work as little kids were running amok in the park, playing and enjoying the sunny afternoon. Along a mostly deserted street, a teenager was walking casually with his backpack slung over his shoulder casually. Looking around with ease, Tommy Oliver was making his way around the city's more suburban areas for a stroll.  
It had been over a week since he lost the Green Powers. He had to admit he had felt disappointed when he got told there was nothing to be done except to pass on the Power to another Ranger. A side of him wished his best friend had tried harder to retrieve the Green Candle so he would have stayed on the team. But for that line of thought there was always the opposing one, the one pointing out that if his best friend had chosen to ultimately save the powers and not him, they would be now looking for a new Green Ranger and he would probably be seven feet under the ground. It was also really obvious Jason berated himself for failing to retrieve the candle, even though when confronted about his moping about, the leader of the Power Rangers would deny anything was wrong.  
Tommy chuckled to himself. There was another positive side of losing the powers. He could now spend more time focusing on his schoolwork without fear that he would suddenly be called to battle another foolish abomination that Rita would send their way or that he would yet again be prey to Rita’s obsession with the Green Power. The fact he no longer had anything to do with that world had brought with it a sense of elation. But when his friends were called away two days ago to battle, he couldn’t help it but be glued to the TV screen like everyone in the Youth Center, waiting for some information on how his friends were doing.  
Looking around himself cheerfully, a sight suddenly grabbed his attention. In the yard of one of the smaller houses he saw a figure swinging a long metal staff, Tommy standing too far to discern the person’s details. Closing the distance to the house, he started to make out details of the figure which had his back turned to him and recognition dawned on him. He leaned on the fence in front of the house and watched with a smile the other teen working out on a combat sequence with the long metal bo staff, its movements going from flowing sweeps to curt jabs in a sequence that the practitioner tried to make as seamless as possible. It took about ten minutes before the other teen caught with a glance that he had an audience and turned to see who it was. Recognizing Tommy, Kevin dropped out of the battle stance and took the bo staff in one hand, striding towards Tommy.

" Tommy. What are you doing here? ", he greeted Tommy neutrally. The other teen didn’t mind: he had gotten used to Kevin’s curtness, especially now.

" Hey Kevin. I was just passing by. ", Tommy replied back, offering a friendly smile.

" Everything alright? ", Kevin asked, obviously referring to the other teen's recent loss of the Power.

" I'm fine. Never been better actually. ", Tommy replied with a reassuring grin, and watched the other teen relax slightly.

" Enjoying the quiet then. ", the statement came out flat.

Tommy couldn’t help but notice the tinge of irritation that crossed the other teen’s face. They had never been the best of friends, due to Tommy’s evil Ranger days, but ever since Rita had tried to enslave Kevin, the older teen was not socializing with the group at all. They had recently discovered that Kevin would be trained as a new kind of Ranger, but the older teen didn’t seem thrilled by that. Tommy could only guess why.

Tommy was surprised when a grimace of pain ghosted on Kevin’s face. He noticed his left arm twitch towards his abdomen, but Kevin stayed stoically quiet as if nothing happened. “ You okay? ”, Tommy asked in concern, and watched for a reaction.

“ I’m fine. ”, Kevin replied though gritted teeth and backed away from the fence, resuming his combat stance on the lawn. Tommy took the opportunity to open the metal fence doors and step inside the yard.

" Is someone there? ", a voice called from inside the house. Tommy realized the voice belonged to Kevin’s martial arts teacher, a man whom many in Angel Grove knew as Takeshi Takeda, martial arts master and sometimes security guard, but whose real identity was that of an alien, a former Red Ranger, by the name of Syrek Darshin.

“ Tommy dropped by.”, Kevin answered back, swinging the staff in curt side blows at the start of another pattern. The metal left a faint whizzing sound for every blow as the kata proceeded. From static blows followed total body movement, and Tommy leaned to the side to get out of the way as the other teen practiced with steady, evened strikes.

“ Well then…”, the teacher appeared in the doorway, scowling. “ What brings you here? ”

“ Pure accident, sir. “, Tommy replied, giving a shallow bow towards the man.

The alien teacher motioned to both teens to follow him, and Kevin halted his pattern almost reluctantly. “ If you plan to hanging around, might as well have some use out of you. ”, he said as he led the two teens through the house and into the back yard. A stark contrast from the front, the back yard was fenced off high, preventing curious looks from neighbors. The small table on the back patio held a jug full of liquid, and two glasses, while a few wooden staves leaned against the wall. Tossing a strip of thick cloth towards Kevin, Syrek motioned Tommy to pick up one of the staves leaning against the wall, while he picked up another and Kevin took up a third.  
Tommy balanced the staff in one hand and watched as Kevin drew the cloth over his eyes, fastening it tightly, and then stood in the rough middle of the yard, staff extended in front of himself at the ready. Without a word, the teacher launched himself at the teen, staff swinging around him. Tommy’s eyes widened: more hits than not made their mark, and the sound of wood striking on cloth and flesh resonated in the air. Some strikes were blocked, others were clumsily redirected as Kevin tried to compensate for his lack of sight, but every error was punished. The bout stalled for a moment, and Syrek motioned with his head for Tommy to join the fray when he saw the teen was just standing bewildered there. Tommy took position uncertainly, and saw the teacher drew a finger across his lips. The exercise proceeded for ten minutes in silence, and when they were done, Kevin was crouching in a corner of the yard, panting and bruised. He had parried some blows, returned others, but nowhere near as many as he received and his body ached.  
The man leaned his staff against the wall and motioned for Tommy to do the same, while Kevin removed his blindfold and approached the back patio leaning on his staff. The three sat down in the grass, with Kevin nursing a glass full of liquid in his hands, trying to recover.

“ Next time hit like you mean it, Green Ranger.”, the man scowled. “ The whole point of the exercise is to exert pressure. ”

“ I really don’t see the point.”, Tommy said, partially concerned. This kind of training only seemed to place unneeded injury upon the other teen. Tommy noticed the older teen didn’t join into the conversation, and looked a bit dazed in the bargain.

“ Better physical condition means he can also withstand channeling the Power better. ”, the man responded, frowning, “ Kevin…”, the man turned to his dazed pupil, “ You have to start showing some progress. How many times I have to tell you that unfortunately you have no choice in this? Either you learn how to channel the Power, or soon it’ll come to a point where any kind of disruption will kill you. There is no other way. ”

Kevin looked chastised and set his jaw against saying anything. Out of nowhere surfaced the idea that his teacher was wrong: there was a third way, a way to sever himself from the Power. He clamped down on the tempting idea soon enough as he knew what it’d mean if he pursued that way. He barely escaped the first time with his sanity intact, and he didn’t need the temptation.  
Silence fell between them. Tommy made a show of looking at the blue sky above, then at the wall of the house. A thought occurred to him out of the blue.  
¸  
" You called me the Green Ranger. You know I don't carry the power anymore. ", Tommy told Syrek, his voice carrying an undertone of regret.

The man just slapped him on the shoulder. " You may not be active anymore, but everyone attuned to it will know you once held that Power. Every Ranger that ever served carries the mark of the Grid on them as a testament to their service. ", he explained patiently, as if Tommy were another one of his students. Tommy just nodded, the explanation giving him a small degree of satisfaction. Syrek smiled ruefully, then motioned for the teens to get up as he saw his pupil had recovered slowly. Training was about to resume.

* * *

Zack was in the Youth Centre, sitting at the group's usual table and looking around himself while his notebook laid open in front of him. Schoolwork had piled up lately, as all the teachers seemed to be getting assignment ideas at the same time, but he couldn't really keep focus on his assignments. He looked around himself and watched other teens pass him by or work out at the gym machines Ernie had set up in the Youth Centre. Zack took a sip of his smoothie and spotted Angela, who has been his crush for a long time, but he kept always getting rejected. He flashed her a wide grin, but she just turned her head away somewhat indignantly. Zack just averted his eyes from her and searched for the other members of their little group.

Kimberly, lithe as always, was busy practicing her routine. The young gymnast has been practicing on the balance beam to the admiration of many onlookers. She had taken Tommy's leaving from the team with a bit of sadness, and had tried in these several days to still involve him in group activities. She just knew Tommy felt left out now that he wasn't an active Ranger anymore, and she desperately wanted to still make him feel welcome among the group. The other thing that constantly worried her was Jason, her boyfriend, who barely talked to her about the guilt he felt. Better barely than not at all, she had reasoned, as whenever anyone else of the group would ask him on the topic, he’d shut himself tighter than an oyster. She quietly wondered if today would be any different.

Jason tried to keep his routine as normal as he could as if nothing happened. The Red Ranger was punching furiously at the punching bag hanging from the ceiling, like it had done something to wrong him. For the last several days Jason had been wallowing in guilt over Tommy losing his powers, and the punching bag was his way of venting his frustrations. Thinking that he should have been more prepared, Jason had undergone his training with a zealousness that sometimes scared the rest of them. When he was not at the Youth Centre working out, doing his schoolwork or out saving the world, he'd be training with his brother and the sensei, learning all he could. In his eyes, he owed it to the team to be better prepared for what would come next, and he wouldn’t be found wanting again.

Zack looked around to see if he could find any other members of their little group. To his dismay, he found neither Trini or Billy around.  
Billy’s absence was not surprising. The shy scientist had always some invention or other in mind, and he often retreated into working on them. Instead of letting himself dwell too much on Tommy’s forced leave from the team, Billy had tried to find out any way that the Green Powers could be returned to Tommy. Billy always tackled problems with a clear mind, and this was no different: the only thing that hampered the young genius was any lack of headway into the problem. He had a long way to go and a lot to learn.

Trini was probably outside, in the park, or at home studying, enjoying a bit of peace and quiet. She had really tried in the last several days to be of comfort to both guys, but while Tommy had genuinely seem to be happy despite losing his powers, Jason was reluctant to talk at all, insisting he was fine. So she stopped trying for the time being, allowing her to focus on her schoolwork and everyday chores, now that Rita seemed to have relented somewhat in trying to conquer Earth.

Zack shrugged off his thoughts about his teammates and decided to head over to Jason and see how he was doing. Casually strolling along the unoccupied mats, Zack made his way next to the punching bag Jason was working on, but the other teen didn't even stop his routine to greet him.

" Hey Jase, what'd that bag do to ya to deserve such a beating? ", Zack greeted him with a tease, crossing his arms over the chest.

" Hey Zack, what's up? ", Jason answered in between breaths, not letting up on the punches.

" Oh, not too much. Aside checking on my best friend, you know. ", the African-American tried to sound casual, but rolled his eyes in annoyance.

" As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. ", Jason replied, sounding a bit irritated. He struck the bag with a punch and then alternated with a kick, his breath coming ever more labored.

" You know what I mean, Jase. We all know you're feeling guilty about what happened to Tommy. And you have to talk about it sometime. ", Zack told him, lowering his voice. Jason’s stubbornness was starting to be a serious annoyance, and Zack hated to see his best friend just blame himself for something that wasn’t his fault.

" And I already told you.... ", Jason emphasized the words by one last punch to the bag. " …that I'm fine. " The workout bag swung towards the teen, who easily caught it with both hands to steady it, then turned to pick up the towel that lay discarded on the bench near the mats. Plopping down on the bench, Jason noticed Zack’s annoyed expression and felt ashamed. “ Look… I just have a lot on my mind, okay? ”

“ You do know we’re all here for you? You really don’t have to shoulder everything alone. ”, Zack was sympathetic, and Jason gave his friend a weak smile.

“ Yeah, I know. Don’t worry. ”, the Red Ranger clapped the other teen on the shoulder and got up slowly. Zack just shook his head with a sigh as he watched Jason head towards the lockers. Of all of Jason’s good qualities, stubbornness was often not one of them. He made a mental note to ask the rest of the group for ideas how to bring Jason in line: they all knew he needed it now more than ever.

* * *

In the meantime, Goldar was quietly sneaking out of the Moon Palace. Truthfully, to call it sneaking was an overstatement. Rita had holed herself up in her chambers in exasperation and hasn't been out for the last few planetary rotations and seemed not to care for what her underlings did. The two bumbling idiots, Squatt and Baboo, had tried to cheer her up from her recent loss against the Rangers, but they met with a fit of rage that sent them running off into the lower levels of the Palace again. Finster had taken the opportunity to return to a peaceful study of his chosen profession, alchemy, since Rita did not waste his time to make monsters or screech at him. So between staying in his chambers, polishing his prized sword and sparring sporadically with Scorpina, Goldar had been bored. However, that boredom ended when a one man frigate ship entered the system. Once he found out that the ship belonged to a young camian named Sindri, Goldar had wasted no time to contact his compatriot and arrange a meeting on the Moon. He longed to finally catch up with the events of the Universe and his home world. Making his way across the Moon surface, he came to the lowered ship ramp and climbed inside. His compatriot greeted him with a clasp on the forearm, dressed casually in a grey tunic and black pants fastened by a thick leather belt, golden ornamental lines passing along the edge of the tunic in an elaborate display. Looking around himself in the closed space of the pilot’s cabin, Goldar noticed his compatriot's armor neatly placed in an opened box.

" Well met, Goldar! ", Sindri’s greeting was enthusiastic, all the whole he was motioning to the golden-clad Camian to take a seat on the neatly-made bunk that was lodged in one of the ship’s alcoves. He then opened the supplies cabinet, took a bottle with dark red liquid in it and popped the top open, pouring two glasses of it and handing one to Goldar.

" Well met, Sindri. How goes it? , Goldar replied while bowing to show respect to his host, then took the seat he was offered. He took the glass handed to him, raised it in a toast and took a sip from it.

" It could be better. Work is scarce these days, but we are keeping busy. ", Sindri replied, keeping in mind that Goldar technically is his elder and took a sip from his own glass.

“ It had been so long since I spoke with another member of our race. ”, Goldar felt nostalgic. “ How are things back home? Has anything changed? ”

" Not by much. There are still a large amount of our brethren that are either freelancers or are forced into the service of the UAE. It is hard to try and relay to the Galactic Alliance Council and Eltarian Ranger Council what you are forced to do when everything you hold dear hangs in life's balance. Also, there is still that thorn in our side, those who believe we are better off with the UAE. ", Sindri explained with a sigh.

" Fools, from both sides, blinded by pride. ", Goldar spat out, disgusted. " Any words from the ruling Council of Camia? "

" Rita's bold intrusion into the forbidden grounds on Astana echoed like a gunshot around the Universe. The Dragon Sword is missing and rumors have it they found traces of the ara’mal.. What happened? ", the younger camian was grim as he posed the question. Its answer was something a lot of people would have liked to know.

" I wish those were just rumors. “, it was Goldar’s turn to look troubled, even as he sipped from his glass absentmindedly. “ Rita had employed the Void ritual to try and bring down Zordon’s Rangers. Th sword was taken by the human whom she had used. ”  
  
The other Camian looked horrified, “ Are the legends real then? Are we facing destruction? ”

“ Only time will tell for sure. ”, Goldar looked pensively outside through the cockpit panel. “ The human shook it off, but I am surprised that Zordon didn’t have him executed. He walked out with that sword in hand, and… ”, the camian rubbed at his eyes tiredly, “ I still can’t believe what I saw. ”

“ But only a Chosen can wield that weapon. There were supposed to be safeguards… ”, Sindri protested, his face contorted in disbelief.

“ I am willing to bet my life that he is one. ”, Goldar replied in a whisper, as if speaking of it louder would draw unwanted attention. “ He wielded that weapon as if it was made for him. I swear I saw it react to him. ”

“ A Void-taken cannot serve as a Chosen. ”, the younger camian shot back. “ We have to let the Ranger Council know. ”

“ I refuse to believe he will fall to the Void and its entities. “, Goldar grumbled back. “ Rita amplified that rite and dropped at all on him like an anvil. But he freed himself. Alone. Unaided. That human is a warrior. I absolutely refuse to believe he would give in to temptation. ”

“ Not even if his planet is in so much danger that this would allow him to vanquish the threat once and for all? “, Sindri questioned the older camian, and Goldar froze.

“ Is there something going on that I do not know? ”, for the first time in eons, Goldar’s voice showed fear. The old alien could think of several things that could happen to threaten the planet, and each was worse than the other. None of them included Rita.

" Lord Zedd has commandeered his own war Zord Serpenterra to set course for Earth.”, Sindri elaborated slowly, setting down his glass on one of the panels. ” Word has it he is fed up with waiting on Rita to present herself back at his court with her new conquest, and he's coming to take over the job. "

" What?! ", Goldar shot out of the chair, his almost empty glass falling from his grip and shattering into a hundred tiny pieces. " Tell me those are just rumors. "

Sindri just waved him off. " Several different solar systems have reported long-range sighting of the massive Zord emerging from transit to recharge. “

“ I have to warn them. ”, Goldar growled as he started pacing.

“ I will have to warn the Ranger Council of this, you know. ”, the younger camian mused. “ They need to know there’s a Void-tainted on the loose. ”

“ He is NOT a threat! ”, Goldar bellowed in frustration. “ I will find out if he’s really the silver Chosen. If he is, he’s under my protection. If he isn’t, I’ll take care of him personally. We damned those Powers, and I’d be damned if we won’t help redeem them. ”

“ You will be branded as an oath-breaker. ”, Sindri admonished his older counterpart. “ Sometimes our honor is the only thing we have left. ”

“ I’d rather be an oath-breaker than stuck here. ”, Goldar growled as he slowly rose from his chair. “ Rita crossed a few lines. I’ve stared into the Void, and I saw what looked back. I can’t just leave it be. ”

“ Then may the Five walk with you on that path. ”, Sindri rose up and once again clasped arms with Goldar. “ Stay safe. ”

“ Safe travels. ”, Goldar replied with a nod as he came to stand at the ship’s ramp again.His feet produced no sound as he made his way down and into the magically-maintained atmosphere. The ramp slowly closed behind him, and Goldar trudged on towards the entrance of the Palace among puffs of moon dust. Once he reached the massive doorway, he turned around to see his compatriot’s ship’s solar panels align ever so slightly, and then fold into their recesses. The news he received were critical, and he knew that now, more than ever, he had to leave. It was the greatest gamble of his life, but his instinct told him he was right. As the ship lifted off, Goldar pushed his way into the Palace, plans and scenarios forming in his mind.

* * *

The two teens and the teacher sat down on the grass once again, the bout ended. Kevin seemed wound up tight, and his teacher directed him to the house and into the makeshift gym that had been modeled in the basement, in hopes the teen would unwind there if left a bit alone. Tommy frowned once again: Kevin looked weary, and Syrek watched his pupil with a mix of frustration and displeasure. It seemed whatever progress the older man was hoping to get was not showing on the teen. As if the teacher picked up on Tommy’s thoughts, he turned his scrutiny towards him.

" What is bothering you? ", Syrek asked politely, startling Tommy out of his reverie.

“ It’s just…”, Tommy hesitated for a moment, “ Things don’t seem to go well.”

The alien just shook his head forlornly. “ No, they do not. He should be starting to slowly channel and adapt to the use of the Power. Instead, it is as if he’s keeping it at bay instead.”

“ Maybe something else would work better?”, Tommy opined, ignoring the fact that questioning a man who was alive for over ten thousand years could be considered an insult.

Syrek scoffed, ignoring any further implications. “ The fights and the endurance tests were supposed to strengthen his body and force him into synergy with the Power. I have given him the knowledge, the theory on how it all works, back when my only aim was to keep his profile low. ”, the man explained. “ But now that he’s bonded with the Power, I can’t seem to goad him to embrace it. Instead he is opposing it at every step. It will kill him.”

“ He seemed in pain earlier. ”, Tommy opined tentatively.

The older man signed dejectedly, rubbing his hands out of habit. “ He might very well be approaching the threshold where the Power will start to affect his health. I saw people like that before: they suffered in terrible pain as the raw Power consumed them inside. He needs to stop hindering himself. I don’t want to lose a pupil like him. ”

Tommy sank in thought. Jason’s brother had always projected an unwavering sense of confidence and steadfastness. For the little Tommy knew the other teen, ever since his evil Ranger days, he knew firsthand how driven and relentless the other young man could be, and being a Ranger seemed like a perfect fit. Sure, his demeanor had changed slightly ever since… As the thought hit, Tommy’s eyes widened.

“ Do you know how he got the sword?”, Tommy asked the man sitting across him.

“ No.”, the alien shook his head. “I asked, but he didn’t answer. It is bad enough that I didn’t notice the signs of his bond until it started affecting his behavior, but there’s something else there that I can’t pin yet. ”

“ I hope this explains things...”, Tommy replied and related what had happened in the temple on the distant moon of Astana and then spilled over to the Earthen battlefield. Tommy reluctantly dredged up the memories of the event, every memory of it as clear as it had happened yesterday. The further the tale progressed, the older man’s face grew paler, and when Tommy finished, he noticed Syrek’s knuckles were livid: his fists were balled up in tension. Thanking Tommy for the valuable information, Syrek bade him to leave, to which Tommy obliged: he had stayed much longer than he had planned. When Kevin came to stand in the doorway, looking slightly more rested, all he found was his mentor staring pensively into the sky.

* * *

Later that night, Jason was sitting on the windowsill with his feel leaning gently on the roof tiles, inhaling the fresh air and looking outside. He could not sleep, despite being tired from the day behind him. Nightmares kept plaguing the young man, changing regularly between his deadly face-off with the Green Ranger in the Dark Dimension and his failed attempt at retrieving the Green Candle while he'd hear Tommy blaming him for the failure. Jason was heavily convinced that Tommy blamed him for the loss of the Green power, and he blamed himself for not being better prepared. This brought him to close himself off to the team: he was so used to being the unwavering rock of the group that he did not want the rest of the group to see him in a vulnerable state. His obsession with striving to prove himself anew as the team leader almost consumed him: he did not spare himself, whether in training or in battle. In his stubbornness he failed to notice just how much his friends were worried for him, despite the fact he did not want them to worry.

Hearing the squeak of the window next to his opening, Jason turned his head to see his brother lean heavily on the windowsill. He caught his brother’s troubled look right before the other teen noticed Jason sitting outside.

" Up again, Jase? ", Kevin asked, stiffing a yawn.

" Yeah, can't sleep. ", Jason replied, rubbing at his eyes. The coolness of the night was a welcome change from the heat of the day, and the silence made it all the easier to get lost in thought.

" You need to lay off the smoothies. ", Kevin gave his brother a teasing smile, but his eyes did not show any mirth behind them.

" Nightmares again. ", Jason mumbled out.

" You're blaming yourself, aren't you? ", Kevin asked, now finally giving his undivided attention to his brother, making Jason shift in place uneasily. " You can't blame yourself for everything that happens. "

" If I had been more prepared, I could have gotten past Goldar, and I could have gotten to the candle. ", Jason blurted out in frustration, his hands balling up at the thought.

" And if you'd gotten to the candle, then what? You'd be searching for a new Green Ranger right now and your best friend would be dead. Is that what you want? ", Kevin’s rebuttal carried such cold anger that Jason was taken aback.

" No... ", Jason answered, lowering his head. “ But the fact remains: I could have fought harder, and we should have never let Tommy go into that battle alone. ”

“ You did what you could.”, Kevin’s features softened for a moment as he spoke, “ Nobody can dispute that. ”

“ Except maybe for me.”, Jason retorted with a mirthless smile. “ But I’m not the only one who needs to get his head straight. ”

“ What do you mean?”, Kevin’s voice took on a suspicious tone.

“ You’re no better.”, Jason jabbed an accusatory finger towards his brother and watched Kevin’s eyes darken. “ Zordon told me what really went on. Whar Rita did to you. You’re running from the aftermath.”

“ And you wouldn’t?”, Kevin shot back in a growl.

“ You were manipulated!”, Jason replied, his turn to get angry with his brother. “ You weren’t given a choice.”

“ There’s always a choice.”, Kevin said darkly, his thoughts going back to the event. Before Jason could retort, the other teen shifted around and slid back into his room, closing the window behind himself. Jason was left alone, wondering how bad will things have to get before his brother comes to his senses.

* * *

The monster maker’s workshop in the Moon Palace was positively crammed with tools and machinery. Artificial light globes illuminated a row of massive tables that ended with the bulk of the monster-making machine in a corner. The gigantic nozzle of the machine was suspended over a clear open area so that newly created monsters would stay clear from the delicate flasks and other assorted items that lined the shelves on the opposite wall. The tables themselves were crowded by gears and tools, many obscure enough that would make the room seem like a torture area. However, another set of shelves were filled with figurines, miniature monsters that awaited their turn to be brought to life by the arcane machinery.

Goldar took it all in as he entered Finster’s little world. The small, dog-like alien was hunched over one of the tables, sculpting tools in hand and quite oblivions to the alien general’s presence. Goldar was amused to watch the alchemist work: the precision and craft displayed in every single figurine crafted served as a testament to Finster’s dedication and talent. He wondered how Finster would’ve thrived if Rita didn’t put so many constrains on his work.

Goldar made a show of clearing his throat. “ Finster. ”

The alchemist whirled around with a clatter of tools “ G-g-goldar! My apologies, I didn’t notice you enter. ”, Finster stammered, bowing deeply.

The camian watched with amusement the alchemist visibly quiver. “ Relax, Finster. No harm, no foul. ”

“ Has our Lady finally come out of seclusion? Are my services needed? ”, Finster asked with trepidation.

“ No. ”, Goldar grumbled. “ I am here on a personal matter. ”

Finster felt relieved and bent down, carefully picking up his scattered tools. “ Oh. Of course. Anything you need. ”

“ I need you to give me something that will keep me veiled from Zordon and Rita’s detection. ”, Goldar stated, leaning on one of the work tables.

The alchemist turned uncomfortable again. “ I can understand hiding from Zordon if you have some nefarious scheme in mind, but from Rita… That is anything but wise. ”

“ I want to scout our opposition. There is something I need to know. ”, Goldar growled back.

Finster’s shoulders slumped as he adjusted his glasses and looked at the artifacts that lined his shelves. Many were just trinkets imbued with small enchantments, results of work Finster did in his own time. Finally spotting the item he was seeking, Finster scurried over to a grab it from its resting place. It was a simple pentagonal amulet with a single small gem set in, all held on a corded necklace. Looking normal in Finster’s hands, as he handed it to Goldar, it looked unassuming in the camian’s grip.

“ Once you rub the gem, the veil will last 48 hours, but it might be erratic. Please use it wisely. ”, Finster said gravely as he watched the camian pocket it carefully in a pouch on his belt. “ Do I dare ask what you intend to do? ”

“ It is better you do not know. ”, Goldar replied, giving a curt nod to the other alien. Finster could just watch as Goldar turned his back and stalked out of his workshop. He toyed for a moment with the idea of alerting Rita to Goldar’s skulking about, but knowing the horrendous mood the witch had been in lately, he opted to stay safe instead. He would worry about the potential consequences later.

* * *

The next day Angel Grove High was bustling with activity. A veritable horde of students crowded the hallways, proceeding to their classes with haste. The main hallways were lined with lockers, one per student, around which the students would gather to talk shortly before taking their leave for the next class. Kimberly and Trini had just arrived to their own lockers with books in hand, looking at the stream of students passing them by in both directions.

" Don't look behind, idiot gang coming up. ", Trini whispered to Kimberly just as two teens separated from the groups of students and started walking towards them. One skinny and tall, the other a bit shorter and fat, the two wore black leather jackets, with small chains dangling from the belts and pockets. To anyone new, Bulk and Skull would give the impression of hardcore thugs until one actually comes face to face with them, when their idiocy and illusions of grandeur come to show.

" Why hello there, babe! ", Skull said, pulling Kimberly by the shoulder, making her turn around and looking at her lustfully. " Wanna go on a date tonight?"

Kimberly rolled her eyes and then looked at Skull with a look that, if looks could kill, would have killed Skull several times over in the last two seconds.

" Only when Hell freezes over, Skull. Probably not even then. ", Kimberly muttered in irritation. This was neither the first time, nor it would be the last that Skull tried to badger her on a date.

" Come on! How can two gorgeous babes like that not want two studs like ourselves? ", Bulk grumbled, giving Skull a mock pat across the shoulders.

" Get a grip, Bulk. ", Trini told him, looking annoyed. Every day was the same routine with these two, and it got old pretty fast.

" Why don't you two leave the girls alone finally? ", came a voice behind Trini and Kimberly, which turned out to be Zack's, who was approaching them in Billy's company. " Jason’s gonna have your hide. ", he stated firmly.

" The bitch and the dumb jock are now a thing. Yeah, sure. Come on Skull, there are girls who are just waiting for a chance with us. ", Bulk shot venomously, but as he proceeded to grab Skull by the arm to turn him away, he collided straight on with what to him felt like a wall. Bulk turned furiously to see the person he collided with, just to meet eyes to eyes with Kevin, the older teen almost towering above him, his gaze fixed menacingly on both Bulk and Skull. Skull just froze in place and couldn't help but stare, a nervous grin unconsciously appearing on his face.

" I suggest you apologize. ", Kevin growled at him. " Now. "

Bulk just gulped and turned to face Kimberly, who was looking at him with eyes narrowed, and her head slightly tilted to the right, her arms crossed over her chest. Bulk just knew he had to do it. The older teen had never been too friendly with the two bullies, and Bulk could tell that if he were to pick a fight with Kevin right now, it would not end well. The older teen looked almost spoiling for a fight.

" I – I – I'm sorry. ", Bulk stuttered, looking over his shoulder. Kevin nodded almost imperceptibly, and the two school clowns took that as a cue to leave.

“ That was completely unnecessary.”, Kimberly rounded on Kevin, who took the petite brunette’s wrath in stride. Everyone else might be cowered when Kimberly gets angry, but as her and Jason grew up together, Kevin was more than used to her fiery personality.

“ Maybe.”, he just shrugged, turning to his locker to pick up a new batch of books for his next class. To the teens’ surprise, as he was stacking the books around his locker, Kevin’s muscles twitched and he leaned heavily on the lockers, his features contorting in pain for only a moment.

Billy lightly touched his friend’s shoulder. “ Are you in need of medical assistance? ”, the young genius asked of his friend, watching Kevin take deep breaths.

“ I’m okay, Billy. ”, Kevin replied, straightening himself. “ Just fine. ” He picked up the books that had slid out of his grasp and closed the locker. He didn’t say another word as he turned his back on the group and left.

As the older teen rounded the corner on his way to his next class, Zack and Billy came to stand next to Kimberly in silence. “ That could have yielded better results. ”, Billy broke the silence, adjusting his glasses awkwardly.

“ You could say that again. ”, Zack replied absentmindedly, glancing at Kimberly, who was still fuming. Trini put a hand on her friend’s shoulder in reassurance, recognizing that her outburst had been awhile in building. Ever since they lost Tommy as the Green Ranger, the group had been wound tight: Jason had shut himself off, shrugging off every attempt to get him to open up about their second foray into the Dark Dimension. The reticence of the Red Ranger had been driving each of them nuts in their own way. His brother wasn’t any better, and just added to everyone’s problems.

“ I’m not sure who of the two is worse at times. ”, Trini muttered as Kimberly’s anger finally deflated. Trini could only vaguely sympathize with the other girl: it hit Kimberly hard that Jason refused to talk to her about what happened, and it put a strain on their budding relationship.

“ I am more worried about the display we have just seen.”, Billy adjusted his glasses as he took a glance at the timetable he held at the forefront of the stack of books that he held in the crook of his arm.

Their musing was interrupted by an out of breath Tommy, who elbowed his way through the crowd almost in panic. Had they not known better, the four teens standing there would’ve bet that he was being chased by yet another monster. But this time, it was something much more mundane. It was just a race with time. Classes were about to start for the day, and Tommy, as so often happened, was cutting it close.

“ Hey guys! ”, he offered in a way of hasty greeting as he almost barreled into his own locker, frantically picking up the books he needed for class. “ What’s up? ”

Zack was the first to answer, right after giving Tommy time to catch his breath. “ Early morning close encounter with the clown brigade. ”, he replied to the amusement of the rest of the group as they finally fell into step, moving towards their assigned classroom.

“ Another day, another badger for a date, huh? ”, Tommy snorted in amusement, earning himself a mock punch from Kimberly.

“ It’s not funny. ”, she grumbled. “ They almost had their asses seriously kicked. ”

“ Jason? ”, Tommy’s eyes widened in surprise.

“ Guess again. ”, it was Zack who answered back with a smirk. “ Kevin. ”

“ Let’s face it…“, Kimberly commented with a defeated sigh. “ Those two are as stubborn as oxes. ”

As they approached the classroom, Tommy caught sight of Jason sitting among the rest of their class, gazing out of the window with a troubled expression and fidgeting with a pencil. “ I’ll talk to Jason, guys. ”

* * *

Jason gathered the books from his desk and slowly dragged himself out of the classroom in the midst of the rest of the students. History was as fascinating a subject as always, and the complex topics they were covering now ensured his attention didn’t wander. That would unfortunately end when he crossed into the hallway and met up with the rest of the group. He sighed. These days the Power felt more a burden than a blessing, despite the steady reconnection to the Grid the group was slowly undergoing. In his musing, he barely noticed he arrived at his locker, and was mildly surprised not to see Kimberly there: the Pink Ranger had tried so much to take his mind off the Green Candle debacle. He loved her very much, and he didn’t want to place any unnecessary burdens on her.

He had just finished stowing the excess of his books into his locker when he caught the familiar green shirt of Tommy Oliver among the crowd. The other teen was shouldering his way through the crowd that moved towards the cafeteria, and when he noticed Jason looking at him, he smiled warmly.

“ Hey Jase! ”, Tommy finally stopped next to his best friend. “ Just the man I was looking for. ”

“ What’s up? ”, Jason tried to offer a small smile: he was sure that the friendly demeanor was only superficial. For the last week he did his best not to engage too much with Tommy as he was sure the other teen blamed him for the loss of the Green Power.

“ I need a huge favor, bro. ”, Tommy was all smiles as the two teens walked to the cafeteria. “ I was trying to come up with some new stuff for that upcoming martial arts demonstration, and I need your help fleshing it out. ”

Jason raised an eyebrow. He had politely opted out the mentioned demonstration a couple of days ago, deciding to leave the spotlight to Tommy. His trainings were much more different and intense nowadays. “ Uhm…I’d love to, but I have this political science essay to write and I’m a bit behind with reading…”, he rubbed the back of his neck, desperately hoping he didn’t sound too much like he was making excuses. “ Have you tried asking Billy or Zack? Even Kevin? ”

Tommy slapped Jason on the shoulder jovially. “ Zack said he’s busy, and I think this might be a bit too advanced for Billy. And your brother’s currently the world champ in unsociable behavior. So that leaves you my only hope. ”

Jason gave out an amused snort. Star Wars. Of all the things. “ Alright. When do you want to do the practice round? ”

Tommy went ahead to stand in the cafeteria line. “ Got time after school? Old beach quarry? Don’t want anyone catching sight of the routine before the demo. ”

Jason rubbed his neck absentmindedly. That place had seen so many Ranger battles so far that he often wondered how it didn’t become a tourist attraction yet. It was just one of those things. “ Sure, sounds great. Any gear I’ll need? ”

“ Nah, won’t be needed. I’m glad you’ll be helping me on this. It’s been awhile. ”, Tommy was enthusiastic. Jason averted his eyes for a moment: he knew exactly what the other teen was referring to. The two hadn’t sparred since the Green Candle. Jason was sure Tommy didn’t need any reminders to what he’d lost, and Jason had those aplenty.

* * *

Billy had caught sight of Jason and Tommy just as he was finishing his own lunch. Zack, Kimberly and Trini had yet to come to the cafeteria for lunch, and he didn’t mind eating alone. It gave him some time to start catching up to the assignments given in the first three periods. Carefully taking up his books in the crook of his arm, Billy headed purposefully to his next destination.

The High School had a single computer lab, a big room situated on the second floor modified to house twenty five terminals. It boasted the latest and greatest in computer technology available for every student to use, and Billy saw a group of people leaving the premises as he approached the door to the lab. Arguing could be heard from the half-open door, and Billy smiled as he recognized one of the voices.

“ .. Rules are rules. ”, a familiar voice boomed from the lab. “ Now go finish your lunch outside before you fuck something up. ”

“ Okay, okay, jeez…”, another voice replied in turn and a blond-haired boy blundered out of the lab, bumping into Billy and almost spilling his drink all over the young genius.

Getting his balance back, Billy observed the room he found himself in: starting from his left and all along the walls were lined fifteen terminals, most of them unused. Another ten sat in the center of the room, in two neat rows of five. The room floor was a poorly concealed mess of cabling, all which led into a rack cabinet that stood in the corner opposite of the door. The room had only two wide windows at the wall opposite of the door, but it very much made up for it a custom ventilation solution, built when the lab was originally designed. Nonetheless, the air in the room was hot from the machines running.

On the desk to Billy’s immediate left was a hefty notebook, and he bent over, neatly scribbling his name, student ID, the time and the terminal he wanted to use.When he straightened back up, he met the steady gaze of Kevin, who was just finishing neatening up a terminal post.

“ Problems? ”, Billy cut to the chase. Greetings were unnecessary.

Kevin’s shoulders sagged ever so slightly. “ Another smart-ass. Thinks he can just waltz in here with a drink. ” He gave an almost absentminded slap to a blank terminal near him, the screen of which was plastered with a big Out of Order paper. “ Second one screwed up in three weeks. Some dolt decided to mess around the power supply, and it involved a paper clip for some reason. Good thing the supply’s the only thing fried. Gotta stay over the weekend and see with the operator if we can fix it ourselves before we apply to the school board for repair money. ”

Billy chuckled. For as long as he could remember, Kevin had been the student head of the computer lab, a reliable right hand to the school’s admin and technician. It went hand-in-hand with his membership at the related academic club. Whatever the older teen’s aim was in life, Billy was sure it included computing. “ Can I talk to you in private? ”

Kevin looked at the other six students in the lab. Deciding that everything would be well in hand, he guided Billy outside the lab. Once the two took shelter in a side corridor leading to the rest rooms, Kevin frowned. “ What’s up? ”

Billy made a show of adjusting his glasses. “ Look… If there is anything amiss, you are more than welcome to let us know. We’ve been there and heard what your mentor said. We shall support you as we can. ”

Kevin placed a hand on Billy’s shoulder, but the pressure said that the gesture was not anywhere near friendly. “ There’s nothing to say.”, Kevin growled under his breath. “ Nothing wrong. And nothing happening. ” As the tone grew slightly more menacing, Billy thought he saw a cursory flash in the other teen’s eyes. “ And for everyone’s sake, I suggest you, and the rest of the group, drop it. ”

With that, Kevin turned and stalked back towards the lab. As Billy moved to follow him, he could swear he saw a twitch ripple across the exposed arms of the older teen. The reaction that followed it, however subtle, revealed pain.

* * *

Goldar pushed his way through the low foliage that impeded his every step in the Angel Grove forest, all the while grumbling under his breath. He had taken great pains to transport himself from the Moon Palace in a way that wouldn’t alert Rita, carrying only what supplies he could. The sorceress was still holed in her study after the Green Candle debacle and none could actually guess as to what she was working on next. It struck Goldar that the only way he will be returning to the Moon Palace if things don’t end up as planned will be in disgrace. Even as he made his way through the forest, his mind raced with several different scenarios and he came up the most likely lie he’d feed the sorceress in case he was caught. It would be a tricky situation indeed.

For his hideout he picked out an abandoned mining shaft in the quarry that stood within the city limits, not unlike the one they had used to house their portal weeks ago. The area surrounding the city was full of such locations, former places of industry that fell in disrepair. Goldar chuckled to himself at the thought: they had often used such places as hiding spots and staging areas, and they made for decent trap areas. Now they would make a decent hideout. He reached into the pouch and rubbed at the trinket Finster had given him and hoped the alchemist was as good as he said. Otherwise this will be a very short stay.

* * *

Jason rubbed his eyes tiredly as he jogged along the beach towards the quarry. Tommy had let him know he’d be there ahead of Jason as he was lucky enough to have one less period on his schedule that day. Hitching a ride on the public transport had been no big deal, but Jason felt exhausted from his day nonetheless. He thought about the reading that awaited him once he got home. That essay wasn’t going to write itself, and Jason wanted to use what time he had when Rita didn’t feel like attacking to catch up to his schoolwork. His grades had slightly wavered lately because of everything that happened. 

Finally, the greenery gave way to the coarse rocks of the abandoned quarry. Jason smiled slightly as he remembered just how many battles they’d already had under these man-made hollows. It was also the perfect solitary spot. Unlike the park and the forest areas, which were always full of people, this place was so featureless that people usually did not bother to go out of their way to come here. But despite a lack of features, the place had charms of its own: the sea lapping at the rocky shore and the wind passing through the quarry canyons had charms of their own, despite the coarseness of the terrain.  
Jason finally spotted Tommy ahead of him. The other teen was concentrating intently on the execution of a kata, but the series of movement came out choppy. Jason slowly realized that this was the custom sequence that Tommy had been working on, and from the slack in the moves it was obvious he had done it alone. He could just imagine how long it took Tommy to come up with this sequence alone and then refine it: it was increasingly hard work when you didn’t have a sparring partner.

“ A little to the left. ”, Jason said by the way of greeting as Tommy launched a kick.

Tommy snapped abruptly out of the routine on landing as he heard the familiar voice. He had been so engrossed in the routine that he hadn’t heard Jason approach. “ Hey, Jase. Took your time. ”, he commented with a grin as he saw Jason discard his backpack next to his.

Jason grimaced. “ Last period was Hell, sorry. ” At least that wasn’t a lie: the teacher had endeavored to make his last lecture of the day as boring as possible. “ Shall we? ”

Tommy nodded and first tossed over a notebook that had been lying on the ground next to him. The little dog-eared notebook was full of sketches and routines, and the two particular pages contained the demonstration routine that Tommy had painstakingly brought together, analyzed and practiced alone. For the next hour, the two boys squared off in practice, running the sequence back and forth. Sparring back and forth, they found what worked and what didn’t, carefully making adjustments to the routine and jotting down changes. When they finally ran the sequence for the last time that day, gone were the hitches that marred it initially and the moves flowed seamlessly between them. Finally, the two guys plopped down on the ground, sweaty but every bit as happy about the workout.

“ You definitely need to be at the demo. ”, Tommy grinned when they finally settled down. “ This stuff is way easier in pairs. ”

Jason shifted uneasily. “ I don’t know… Got lots to do. ”

Tommy rolled his eyes in annoyance and gave the other teen a pat on the back. “ Come on, man… I know what’s going on. All this avoidance is stupid, really. ”

Jason frowned, but didn’t say anything. Tommy took that as a cue to continue. “ The guys didn’t even have to tell me. I know you’re blaming yourself for what happened. And I know you’re avoiding me because you think I’m blaming you. ”

“ And you have ever reason to. ”, it was Jason’s turn to quip in.

“ Let’s recap: if you stayed in there longer, you would’ve gotten the Candle… And you’d also probably have to peel my remains from the Zord cockpit. ”, Tommy signed in exasperation, while Jason winced at the description. “ I may have been a bit disappointed, but I’ve had days to reflect: if you guys didn’t get there when you did, I would’ve been cyclops chow. Billy explained how Rita stacked the deck against us. There was no way that could’ve worked out in our favor. ”

“ Except if I had been better prepared. ”, Jason shot back, balling his hands into fists.

“ There’s no way me or you could’ve taken Goldar without morphing. If we’re lucky, it’d take us a few decades to get that kind of strength. ”,Tommy shook his head, and then grinned. “ You need to stop shutting your friends out, and I’m damn well making you get on that mat with me in a couple of days and do the demo. Even if I had to spend my evenings helping you with that essay afterwards. ”

Jason shook his head ruefully. His friends tried their best to keep his spirits up, and he had to admit it had been wrong to isolate himself from his team. He had been so obsessed with improving himself in order to never had a similar ordeal again that he neglected to stop and think how his friends felt. And now he felt blessed for their understanding and support: they never gave up on him. He vowed he’d do better. And it started here.

“ Deal. ”, he finally grinned back at Tommy.

“ The demo or the essay? ”, the jab came back as quick and as jovial as one’d expect.

“ The demo. I can get the essay done myself. ”Jason sprung up on his feet and offered a hand to Tommy. “ How about we work on this some more? ”

“ I thought you’d never suggest that. ”

* * *

Goldar grumbled to himself as he made his way along the quarry and towards the beach. It had just struck him how dauntless a task was ahead of him: he had 48 hours to find out what he wanted from the Rangers, and he had no idea how to set about the task. How to get to the Rangers, or that damned teen for that matter? Would he have to cause a ruckus to get their attention? It seemed a contrary course of action, considering the length he went to keep himself concealed from both Zordon and Rita. Now that he spent a couple of hours skirting the edge of the city, he could finally admit he was lost. This was the most time he had spent on the ground, having usually come and gone to the city by teleportation. Now he had to contend with the notion of going through a maze of city streets filled with thousands of humans just to find the answers he was seeking. Well, it will never be said that Goldar was a quitter.

Familiar voices drifted through the wind along with the lapping of water, and Goldar’s ears perked up. Recognition followed soon after and Goldar could not believe his luck. Somewhere ahead of him, he recognized the voices of the Red and Green Rangers, and he hastened. How would he approach them? Would they even listen to him? The Red Ranger had been clueless to his brother’s true condition, which made Goldar doubt whether he knew the information the alien was after. But, it would be a start. Finally coming to a stop on the quarry cliff overlooking the two boys, Goldar made a flash decision: the most direct approach would be best. He spread his wings wide and leaped into the air.

* * *

Jason was in the middle of a double punch when he noticed a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He halted the move abruptly and turned around, greeted by the sight of Goldar diving down towards them as the setting sun rays bounced off his gold armor. The alien flew down on them faster than Jason had ever seen, and he made an instant decision, shouldering an equally surprised Tommy out of the way. Goldar bore down his way and in a moment, the alien was onto him, pushing him away from the former Green Ranger with all the force gathered from the flight. Jason finally ended on his back, pinned down by the alien’s bulk.

“ I’d like a few words, Red Ranger. ”, Goldar growled at him, even as Jason strained to leverage himself out of this predicament.

“ I’m not telling you shit, Goldar.”, the rebuttal came out defiant and angry.

“ Hey, ape-face, leave him alone! ”, Tommy charged at the Camian, heedless of the fact he had no powers anymore that could protect him. He had to slide to a stop when Goldar pulled out his sword and leveled it in the direction of the former Green Ranger.

“ Spare me the bravado, Green Ranger. ”, Goldar was annoyed: he expected resistance, but he’d hoped they wouldn’t end up being as bullish. Last thing he wanted to do this time was to have to kidnap one of them and torture them for the information. It would not ingratiate him with anyone. Remembering what his compatriot had told him, he suddenly had an idea. “ I am looking for a simple piece of information. And I have valuable information of my own. How about a trade? ”

“ If this is some newest cheap trick to get into the Command Center, it’s failing. ”, Jason glowered at the alien.

“ Well, if you don’t have the information, then I might have to seek out alternative means. But for now, you’ll have to do…”, Goldar mused, then leveled the tip of his sword at Jason. “ Tell me, Red Ranger, is your brother a Chosen? Is he a new Ranger? ”

Jason was taken aback, eyes wide in surprise. What was Goldar aiming at? He remembered Goldar’s comments in the Dark Dimension, and Zordon’s admonishment came to mind. Would Rita try enslaving a Ranger again? Jason shuddered. “ I don’t know. ”

Goldar grinned and inched the sword lower. “ Your words say one thing, your expression another, Red Ranger. If need be, I’ll get the information in another way. ” The blade was almost touching the teen’s throat now.

“ I’ll tell you, if you promise you won’t harm him. ”, Tommy spoke up. He knew there was nothing else to do with Jason’s life in balance. They’d find a way to safeguard Kevin if needs be.

“ Finally having some sense, Green Ranger? Good. ”, Goldar moved the sword just slightly away from Jason’s throat. “ You have my word. Now out with it. ”

“ He is a Chosen and training to be some kind of new Ranger. ”, Tommy sighed. “ We don’t know much otherwise. ”

To both of the boys’ surprise, Goldar looked like he positively perked up. The sword was in an instant back in its scabbard, and Jason felt relieved when the alien got off him, even offering him a hand to get up. “ That is excellent news. Just as I suspected. ”, the alien mused.

“ If you think Rita’s going to use him again, you can be damn well sure we’ll do anything he never goes through that ordeal again. ”, Jason growled back as he got up, having ignored the outstretched armored hand.

“ You can put your mind at ease, Red Ranger. “, Goldar felt elated. His instinct had been correct. “ Rita has nothing to do with this. Considering what she did, she wouldn’t dare. ” He looked at the surprised expression of the two boys. “ As promised, I give you a warning: Lord Zedd is on his way to Earth. I do not know when exactly will he arrive, but I suggest you let Zordon know and prepare. ”

The two guys watched speechless as Goldar rose in the air again, flying out of the quarry. They looked at each other perplexed: the alien general not only kept his word, but gave them fair warning. “ Do you have any clue what the Hell was that all about? ”, Tommy was the first to speak up.

“ Goldar being honest? Rita not being involved? I’m running this by Zordon. ”, Jason started for his backpack now that the initial shock wore off. “ I’m not trusting that monster farther than I can throw him. ”

Tommy hurried to gather his sparse workout stuff in his bag and took position near Jason. With a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, Jason thumbed the teleportation stud and the two teens vanished in a streak of red smeared with gray.

* * *

Zordon was meditating, eyes closed. Being stuck in the time warp offered him more time to improve on his understanding of the Grid: existing as a being without physical form had its challenges, but also its advantages. The peace and quiet of the Command Center was only marred ever so slightly by the periodical beeps coming from the computers as the systems did their work. Alpha was not in the main chamber: the little robot had gone to recharge now that they’ve hit a lull in their watch. So it came as an abrupt surprise when the system governing the teleportation matrix chimed, letting the old sage know that his Rangers were using the teleportation stream. Zordon watched, troubled, as the red stream coalesced into two teens.

“ JASON, TOMMY. ”, Zordon greeted the two with concern: the only reason they had to come here is that if something happened. Something that he couldn’t have seen from the Command Center. “ WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE? ”

“ You wouldn’t believe what happened just now. ”, Jason spoke up, looking at their mentor. “ We were just attacked by Goldar. ”

“ YOU SEEM IN GOOD CONDITION. WHAT HAPPENED? ”, Zordon was now suspicious: there was no way the two would have been let go without so much of a scratch if Rita hadn’t tampered with their minds or Jason’s powers somehow.

“ He asked about my brother being a Chosen. And he gave us a warning. ”, Jason answered, knowing what doubt plagued the sage.

“ He said Lord Zedd was coming. ”, Tommy quipped in hastily.

Zordon sank in thought. If the Camian was speaking the truth, then things were turning much worse than he expected. “ IF IT WERE TRUE, THEN IT IS GRAVE NEWS. IT WORRIES ME THAT WE HAVE NOT PICKED UP THE ATTACK ON YOU. ”

That took aback both teens. “ You’re telling me the systems here had no way of detecting Goldar? ”, Jason was incredulous. Did their enemies just unveil a new way to attack them?If the Command Center systems couldn’t forewarn them about the attack, they were in terrible danger.

“ THERE WAS NO ALARM. ”, Zordon confirmed.

“ Crap. So we have two things to worry about. ”, Tommy commented. He included himself in this, despite his lack of powers: he’d do his best to assist his friends. “ The fact Goldar can now move undetected, and the fact the big ape was interested in Kevin. He sounded very happy indeed when we told him about Kevin. ”

Zordon frowned. “ IF GOLDAR IS UNDETECTED BY OUR SYSTEMS, IT IS VERY MUCH A GIVEN HE IS UNDETECTED BY RITA AS WELL. YOU SAY HE WAS INQUIRING ABOUT YOUR BROTHER AND HIS POSSIBLE CONNECTION TO THE GRID? ”

“ He looked as he’d hit the jackpot when I told him Kevin’s training as a Ranger. ”, Tommy shrugged.

Zordon bowed his head. There was no denying that the older teen had bonded with the Guardian power, no matter how much the sage wanted it not to be true. Goldar’s involvement just added another aspect to an already complicated case. “ I’M AFRAID THAT GOLDAR, AND HIS SPECIES AS A WHOLE, HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN THE POWER THAT KEVIN IS TRYING TO MASTER. IT WAS ONE OF THEIRS THAT LAST MISUSED THE POWER AND CAUSED ALL OF ITS LINEAGE TO BE VIEWED WITH HOSTILITY. ”

“ So he’s going to try and take it? ”, Jason clenched his fists. His brother was enough in danger already.

“ HE CANNOT. IT COULD BE VERY WELL POSSIBLE THAT HE IS NOT ACTING ON RITA’S ACCORD ON THIS ONE. ”, Zordon mused.

“ I’ll let Kevin know he’s sought out. Given his recent mood, I just might feel sorry for Goldar if their paths cross. ”, Jason grumbled.

Zordon just nodded his assent, and Jason thumbed his teleportation stud, sending the two boys back to the beach. The sage could only shake his head forlornly: it wasn’t enough that a Void-taken had bonded with one of the Guardian powers, but now even the Camian had gotten involved. He mused once more if it would be better for him to send a message to the Ranger Council and request an execution squad. It was an idea that required a lot of thought.

* * *

Kevin was hardly surprised when he found a note pinned discreetly oton the table at the front patio of his teacher’s home, instructing him instead to head towards the Angel Grove forest. The two often trained there when they needed a quieter environment than what the residential areas of Angel Grove had to offer. It took him an hour of walking to arrive at the designated place, and he found his teacher sitting cross-legged on the grass, not paying the teen any heed. Kevin dropped his backpack on the ground next to the assortment of staves and wooden swords his teacher had brought with him, and turned to see his teacher finally on his feet, facing him.

“ Grab a staff, if you will.”, the command was terse, and Kevin grabbed both bo staves, tossing one to his teacher. The man plucked it deftly from the air and twirled it almost casually. Without preamble, the man launched himself at the teen, and Kevin scrambled to parry the flurry of blows that rained on him. Constantly on the defensive, it did not take long for Kevin to lose his footing, landing down in the dirt, with his teacher’s staff pinning his chest.

The man removed the staff and beckoned with his hand. “ Again.”, came the curt command. It took a painful moment for Kevin to get on his feet and find his steading, and by the time he did, Syrek was already circling him, staff whirling. Yet another short bout ensured, the result the same.

“ Tommy told me what happened.”, the alien spoke finally, giving Kevin a moment of respite to compose himself. “ Of what you did.”

Kevin froze, his brain trying to frame a response that simply won’t come. He had no idea what to make of this turn of events. “ You have not been this reticent before. I want to see for what you hold yourself responsible.”, the teacher continued, any kind of answer from his student was unneeded. Another bout of combat ensured, and Kevin found himself face down in the grass, his body aching terribly.

“ Let me make clear the stakes, whelp. You are fighting for your life.”, the alien stated as a matter of fact as Kevin dragged himself upwards, his shirt and pants streaked with green where he slid on the grass. The teen leaned on his staff, panting, as another blow came flying at him. He jabbed and he parried, a blow sending a yelp of pain in his throat as it hit his ankle, another sent him reeling as it hit a nerve point, almost making him drop his weapon. A thrust into his throat sent him gagging, another blow into his chest knocked the wind out of him, and more blows rained that he could barely parry, let alone return. To make matters worse, flashes of pain speared through him at random, and he didn’t know how longer could he go on before he’d fold. He’d never experienced similar searing pain before. He could survive this, he thought, there was a way out if he’d only embrace it… And then he clamped down on that train of thought just as the staff came flying for his throat, and slammed against his jaw. He was left kneeling in the dust and gagging, waiting for the last blow to come, but it never did.

“ For the last few weeks you had broken discipline, you pushed yourself past your limits, and now I finally know why.”, the teacher circled him as he spoke, and Kevin had the idea of a shark circling his prey, “ You’re Void-tainted. ”

“ I did damage that I can’t fix. ”, Kevin gritted through his teeth, slowly rising to his feet. He finally understood what brought this about. “ I almost chose the path into a nightmare.”

“ Yet you are here. You chose.”, his teacher stated shortly. “ I want to see who you really are. In this moment. Are you going to die as the pathetic whelp you make of yourself, or as a warrior I thought you were?”

Kevin didn’t answer as the first blow flew towards him. He steeled himself, riding the blow and riposting of his own. Reticence gave way to determination, a grim realization that this might be where he died. Battle made all thoughts superfluous, and the two fighters whirled around each other in a deadly choreography. Everything he had ever been taught came back in muscle memory, restraint vanished in the face of survival. He tried to give as good as he got, even as he knew that compared to the thousands of years of experience of his mentor, he had no chance of survival. Yet even with this knowledge, he pressed on, refusing to be cowed. Battle robbed time of all meaning, and determination robbed his muscles of the feeling of tiredness, while in his mind there was nothing but coldness and determination. It was liberating. He didn’t get to dwell on the memories it evoked: battle peeled everything superfluous away, leaving a sense of warrior purity in its wake and he went with the flow.

Finally, a blow to the side of the head whirled him around, dropping him again on his knees as black spots danced in front of his eyes. He expected the final blow to come, with no doubt that the other man could spear him through with a normal wooden staff with no issues. But the blow never came, the staff instead stabbing lightly under his chin and raising his head. He met the gaze of his teacher with steel in his eyes, and he watched as his teacher gave him a faint smile.

“ I had been looking for that.”, Syrek said, dropping the staff to the ground, much to Kevin’s surprise. “ Not that pathetic shadow of self you’ve been for the last few weeks.”

Kevin screwed his eyes shut as a headache made itself known due to too many blows. His body was throbbing with pain, and his limbs shook almost too much to hold him, but it was nothing to the strands of memory that made themselves heard, the same ones he had been trying so hard to push away. He sat down gingerly, letting his muscles relax. The voice of his mentor snapped his attention back.

“ I want you to be aware of one thing.”, Syrek said, eying his pupil critically, “ Whatever you think you had been under that spell, and now are the same thing. Part of you had accepted what the Void offered willingly. I suspect you know that.” He watched the teen nod mutely. “ Then what do you think is different between now and then? You’re obviously not trying to kill me, and I know the temptation to reach for what you’ve had had been there.”

Kevin was taken aback by the question, and sank in thought. It was an avenue of thought he never considered. “ I don’t know.”, he finally answered.

“ Your choice. You said it yourself: you had chosen. ”, his teacher explained, sitting down next to the exhausted teen, wiping down the sheen of sweat from his forehead. “ Had you really decided to reject your conscience and had taken up that power for whatever misguided reasons it gave you, we wouldn’t be having this conversation and I wouldn’t be trying to train you. ”

For the first time, Kevin decided to speak up properly of the incident. “ What I did… Rita’s spell just broke barriers, and I took it all in. I almost killed my brother, and would’ve seen it fit. I can’t look either him or his friends in the eyes without knowing what I could’ve done to them. It is better for everyone that I stay away. ”

“ It could have been worse. Much worse. ”, Syrek remarked, and for the first time Kevin found himself wondering what his teacher meant by that. The former Ranger on his end noticed the spark of curiosity his response triggered. “ Rita was desperate and foolish. She forced everything onto you at once. I assume that once you noticed something was off, everything came crashing apart, threatening to take your sanity with it. The choice to reject or take in that power was not to be made in halves, because either half-outcome would have left you an insane wreck.”

Kevin nodded in understanding, memory of that time welling up inside his mind anew. He had been facing away from it all for all this time, and now that he was forcibly reminded of it all, he couldn’t look back. His teacher looked pleased even as he saw his student’s face darkening. “ You are not the first, nor will you be the last influenced by whatever lies in the Void. People who should’ve known better, Rangers with much more experience than you have fallen easily to it and they barely noticed it.”, Syrek continued his explanation. “ Had Rita had any wits about her, she would have kept you in her care instead of throwing you into the fire. Maybe sacrificed a few monsters, or pointed you at a rival. The more you drew upon the power of the Void, the more you would have changed, the change growing ever so rapid, and in time, you would have really come to the point to which you were so forcibly brought weeks ago. But you would have gotten there mostly willingly, aided by the spell Rita cast on you to try and keep you loyal. There would have been no going back. Rita would’ve made the mistake to think she still controlled you, and she would have died at your hands. And the spiral would go ever downward. ”

“ You seem to speak from experience.”, Kevin remarked, taken aback by the tale. He had no doubt of its veracity, his memories all to vivid of the dark power coursing through his veins and of the presence that at that time towered over him, waiting for him to embrace what it offered.

“ Unfortunately. The silver lining is that it was never a personal experience.”, Syrek’s voice carried the sadness of a man who’s seen too much over his lifetime. “ Too many good people thought that their virtue would have shielded them. That they could control it in their desperation. And it took only a slip until allies became enemies. ”

“ If it’s so dangerous, you still want to train me to be a Ranger?”, Kevin asked, uncertainty gnawing at him.

“ You turned from the brink on your own volition. That’s more than a lot of others could say. ”, Syrek said to Kevin’s surprise, “ The Power chose you. And you chose it. ”

Kevin’s eyes widened in surprise. “ I…”

The older man gave his pupil an amused smile. “ Tell me the truth… Were you tempted to reach for that power while we fought? ”

“ Yes. ”, the answer came out flat, but Kevin felt ashamed even admitting it. “ It’s constantly at the edge of my thoughts. ”

“ Yet you’re sitting here talking with me. ”, Syrek nodded in satisfaction. “ Instead of reaching for what could’ve ensured your survival instantly, you instead stuck to yourself. And you’ve let the Grid course freely through you. ”

“ How can you be sure I won’t be forced in the same situation again? Or end up desperate enough to seek it out? ”, Kevin was incredulous. His teacher opted to put his trust in him instead of acting on the danger he posed.

“ I can’t be. But you can. ”, Syrek traced idly a circle in the ground, “ The Grid wouldn’t have bonded to you if you were beyond redemption or had been weak-willed. For your lineage, those of the Silver Guardians, willpower is essential. You, so far, keep proving you have what it takes. “

Sinking in thought, Kevin took notice that his body did not hurt that much anymore. Somewhere along the line, his vision had cleared, his head stopped throbbing, and, while bruises showed amply on his skin, the pain inside had lessened with every second. The world seemed clearer than it had ever been, and he realized this was what channeling the Power felt like. He had done it, and suddenly he felt ashamed: a walking risk like him should’ve never been allowed to do that. “ Zordon doesn’t think it’s a good idea.”

Syrek waved him off at the comment. “ Zordon was right in the fact that those of your Power lineage have committed atrocities, and their personality, the base archetype on which they are chosen, makes them dangerous to fall. That is because their brand of evil is not psychotic, or one of petty malice and cruelty that shows openly. It is a relentless, cold, calculated thing, and ultimately not different than the traits they exhibit normally. The same thing that got you marked by the Void is what makes you ideal for this particular Power. ”

“ How reassuring. ”, Kevin muttered. Everything about this seemed wrong to him, and yet he felt like he passed a threshold from which there was no return.

“ Unfortunately you don’t have much choice. ”, Syrek told his pupil sadly. He now knew that the teen didn’t trust himself, but the man knew how the trials ended. The two most probably survival options were two polar opposites, and the former Red Ranger hoped that the latter wouldn’t come to pass.

Kevin closed his eyes. “ No, I guess I don’t. ” He viewed his memories of the event with a sort of resignation now: whatever twisted his mind wanted to scour his mind to know what kind of person he was. And what had been brought out of him had really been himself, conscience not included. And had he made his choice wrong just once, he wouldn’t have needed one ever again.

“ I will not lie to you. All it takes for one of your lineage to lose his way is to lose sight of his principles. It is like walking a rope across the abyss: without careful balance, you easily fall. With the others, it is more clear-cut.”, Syrek said, looking over the pensive teen. Again the tone of sadness struck Kevin as most peculiar. “ Silver Guardians have always been unwelcome guests. The Ranger Council doesn’t like what they stand for, even though that’s the way the Power works.”

“ And what would that be?”, Kevin asked, propping himself back on his arms, for once heedless of how impertinent the question sounded. The sun slowly made its way towards the west now, and in their combat and their talk, they lost track of time.

“ They remind the Council, and Ranger teams, starting from their own, of the unpleasant things that have to be done. In the end, when the last sanction has to be made, they are at the forefront. When there is no other way, they do what has to be done, with no excuses and no remorse. Every Silver Guardian down the line knew his duty and executed it to its end when all other avenues were explored and all options exhausted. That alone requires of them to be cold of heart and great of willpower, and to never forget the greater principles lest they fall from their path.”, Syrek explained patiently, dredging the explanation from memories of eons ago. The memories brought along nostalgia.

“ Did you know one?”, Kevin’s curiosity got the better of him.

“ Yes. He was, believe it or not, my best friend. Always dutiful, always dependable. But when it mattered, my team couldn’t do what we had to. ”, Syrek’s voice was suddenly choked with emotion. “ Our Silver lost his family, his legacy and ultimately his way. An entire planet rose up to follow him on his path to retribution against us. If we only had the guts to do what had to be done, I wouldn’t have had to kill him for the atrocities he committed out of grief. ”

“ It sounds like everyone would be better off if I had never touched that damn sword.”, Kevin remarked, slowly rising up from where he had been sitting. His legs felt better, and his head felt slightly buzzing.

“ Never think like that! A Guardian team without a Silver is like a mind without true resolve. And Gods know we have been without it for far too long.”, Syrek waved the teen over and tossed Kevin the staff the teen had used. His face turned serious, his eyes showing the age his body wasn’t allowed to, and his voice carrying uncharacteristic passion. “ I was supposed to train you to keep your profile low, so the Ranger Council would not get to send another Chosen to their death. But bonding with the Power, you’ve been given the opportunity of a lifetime! I ask of you not to toss your life away. I know you can resist the Void, you’ve done so already. And I know we can set things right. Will you finish your trials? ”

In the face of such an outburst, Kevin stopped for a moment. He thought back to what he did and how easily things would have been vastly different if he had chosen the power the Void offered. But he had made his choice in that moment and that instant was forever burned in his mind. It could keep tantalizing him, but he knew better now. He had a stark reminder of what the wrong way looked like. As his teacher awaited his answer, he realized there was only one honest answer he could give, and he’d been a fool to try to run away from it. Everything else would be letting his life go to waste. “ Yes. ”

Syrek’s face lit up with the first genuine smile for that day. “ Then let’s move on. I will help you every step of the way as much as I can. I’m a former Red Guardian, but currently I’m the closest thing to a mentor you have. ” Kevin nodded, a smile of his own adorning his face. The weight he felt on his shoulders for the last few weeks didn’t leave, but he accepted it. It took another threat to his life to realize that, try as he might, there are things he can’t escape from. It was a harsh journey of self-discovery.

As they started to make their way towards the suburbs, Kevin turned to his mentor once again, watching the man move with a grace he wouldn’t have thought possible. “ Would you have done it? ”

Syrek smiled mirthlessly. “ Yes. If you had chosen differently today, I would have. For all of our sakes. ”

Kevin just silently nodded, a grim smile creeping up on his features. Knowing what he knew now, he did not expect any other answer. Nor would he have wanted it any other way.

* * *

That evening Jason stumbled home after hanging out with Tommy for the remainder of the day, schoolwork be damned. When he finally cleared the house door, the family had been already preparing for dinner, his mother Amy in the kitchen, and father Michael dutifully setting the table up. Kevin was helping his father without a word spoken, and Jason raised an eyebrow when he noticed the bruises that were the newest additions on his brother’s arms. He wondered what happened, and if it had anything to do with Goldar. His parents did not comment, used as they were to their eldest’s hobby. It was not the first time he came home in such a state. Their father, a military man, had given discrete hints of pride that both of his sons pursued hobbies related to a warrior’s lifestyle.

After dinner had come and gone in a jovial atmosphere, the two boys had helped clean up the family table, and then retreated to their rooms. Jason could not shake the feeling something was different, and so he made his way to his brother’s room. Entering without knocking, he found his brother hunched over his work table, with several books opened in front of him.

“ Rough time at training?”, Jason asked, his eyes resting on a single big bruise that colored Kevin’s arm.

Kevin’s shoulders twitched in surprise. “ You could say that. ”, he mumbled, letting the pen he held fall into the open book.

“ Anything I should worry about? ”, Jason was insistent.

“ Whatever gave you that idea? ”, Kevin was now facing his brother, arms crossed.

“ You keep shutting us all out. ”, Jason came to sit on his brother’s made bed.

“ As if you haven’t done that lately as well. ”, came the sarcastic rebuttal.

“ I know I was wrong, okay? I can’t help but feel responsible for the Candle, even though Rita played us right where she wanted us. ”, Jason mused. “ And I know you feel responsible for what you did. Zordon tried to explain to us what happened., and he’d told me he would’ve left you to die from Power exposure rather than to let you go on. First time I disagreed with my mentor. I refuse to believe you’d willingly endanger us again. ”

Kevin snorted. “ Thanks for the vote of confidence. I suppose it’s good that the decision’s not his then. ”

“ Have you decided? ”, Jason pressed on.

“ I have. ”, the answer was short as Kevin turned back to his books.

“ And does it have anything to do with the fact you look like crap? ”, Jason took a jab, frowning: the answer he received told him nothing.

“ I guess someone told Takeshi…no, Syrek… what happened. ”, the scribbling sound resumed. “ He made my choices painfully clear. ”

Jason smiled at the quip, and decided not to press on. Kevin was not going to be forthcoming on the details. “ Just one more thing and then I’m leaving you in peace. ”, Jason rose up slowly. “ Goldar attacked me earlier today, looking for information on you. ”

Kevin half-turned to look at his brother properly: he hadn’t even noticed a few of the bruises Jason had. “ You alright? ”

“ Nothing broken. ”, Jason shrugged. “ But he looked like he scored big when I told him you’re a Chosen. Keep your guard up. ”

“ Thanks for the warning. ”, Kevin nodded and turned again to his studies.

Jason left his brother’s room, leaving Kevin to his schoolwork. Inwardly he groaned when he cleared the door of his own room: his schoolwork was still in his backpack, unfinished. He reached without real effort for his books, taking his place at the plain wooden desk. As he leafed through his assigned reading, to his chagrin his thoughts kept wandering. Kevin hadn’t told him whether he’d come to his senses, and it drove Jason nuts. He jotted down a few notes while he pondered how to coax his sibling back into action. Finally, drawing a blank on ideas, he tried to focus back on his books, brow furrowed. If he didn’t get this done tonight, he would have to ask Billy for help. And that was no way to apologize to one of his friends for being an ass.


	7. Angry Witches and Secrets

The Moon Palace resonated to the sounds of angry footsteps. Rita strode her way through the corridors of the stone edifice, her hands lividly grasping her magic staff. She had finally found her next plan of attack, but now that she needed her most trusted general, he was nowhere to be found. The training arena that was housed just barely above the dungeons was eerily quiet. She had been to the top of the palace, and even considered that he took on himself to attack the Rangers in her absence, but try as she might, she found no trace of him on Earth. Finally storming into the section of the palace her few servants used as the dormitory area, she all but kicked his door down. The inside was revealed barren: the cot did not show signs of use, and the little possessions she knew the Camian had were gone. Even the mere thought that the Camian might desert her was a scalding insult, but the last straw was a little brooch that was usually clipped to his belt, and which she used as a focus to bring him back to the palace, that now laid discarded on the cot.

The anger that radiated from the witch took a life of its own, and as she stormed through the corridors, light crystals burst in her wake from the magic that fed off her anger. She finally burst into her court, beelining for the magical tome that sat on its pedestal right next to the telescope she used to observe Earth. Once again she directed her magic to search for her missing general, all the while the mental summons to her remaining warriors echoed like a gunshot in the magical landscape of the Moon Palace.

It took minutes before the doors opened again to reveal Finster. The little dog-like creature shyly approached the steps of the balcony with his eyes pointed to the floor. " You called, my Queen? "

" Of course I did. ", the witch all but yelled. " Where is Scorpina? "

" Right here. ", the alien warrior just cleared the doors, her crescent sword in hand.

The witch took one look at her general's nonchalant posture and swept her wand around, sending a burst of force that knocked the scorpion humanoid off her feet. " Now that you're all accounted for…", Rita's voice was trembling with anger. " Where is Goldar? "

The two aliens filched in surprise, but where Scorpina was genuinely taken aback at learning her fellow general had gone missing, Finster was nervously shifting. He remembered the small amulet he gave the Camian, and he had hoped that Goldar would've been back before Rita had come out of seclusion.

Rita rounded immediately on the alchemist. " What did you do, Finster? "

Finster cowed down, covering his head with his hands raised in a futile gesture: if Rita decided to blast him into moon dust, nothing would've helped. " Goldar came to me looking for a camouflaging enchantment. He said he was going to scout out the Rangers. "

" Yet it was a one-way trip. ", Rita slammed her staff down in front of the alchemist.

" The enchantment lasts only 48 hours, my lady. ", Finster groveled. " He will appear soon enough. "

" Oh, he will appear much sooner than that. I will have him in chains for even daring to go behind my back. ", Rita barred her teeth as she swept back towards her tome. " Make yourself useful, you little worm. I want as many Putties as that machine of yours can make. And a monster: we don't want the Rangers to be idle. Scorpina, you will take charge of the troops and head to Earth when it's time: I want to see slaughter like we've yet to visit on this place. "

Scorpina raised an eyebrow in surprise: this was wholesale destruction the witch was ordering, not a simple raid. It would definitely serve as an example for the resistance below. She watched the witch pace for a moment, and then turn to her and Finster, dismissing them with a wave of hand.

Rita watched Finster be the first to scurry out of the chamber: the little alchemist had caused such trouble. She had been of a mind to obliterate him on the spot, but he proved too useful. Servants with his skill set were extremely hard to find, so she decided to tolerate his blunder. What mystified her more was Goldar's leave. What could have spurred the Camian to just vanish on her? She leaned on her open tome, sinking in thought. Had it anything to do with the Morphin Grid spiking lately? Or was the Camian more affected by the Void ritual than she thought? She knew there was some detail that she missed, and she was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

The computer lab was awash with the constant hum of the computers and almost full of people when Billy entered its premises. Once he saw that there were still free terminals, he dutifully went for the visitor list first, jotting down his student ID, name, terminal and time of arrival as was customary. That simple gesture earned him an acknowledging nod from Kevin, who was on his back under the center table, busy trailing the bundles of cables towards the out-of-order terminal to then yank them out carefully. When no other greeting came, Billy just shook his head in amusement and pulled up the chair to the terminal he'd chosen. It was the teen next to which Billy sat that made the Blue Ranger crack a wide grin.

" Falling behind on your schoolwork? ", the jibe was good-natured, as Billy wouldn't think to address the other teen any other way.

" You can say so. ", Jason replied absentmindedly among the furious scribbling. " I might have overdone it with training yesterday. "

" You really need to take it easier. ", Billy shook his head.

" I was helping Tommy with his routine and lost track of time, that's all. ", the answer came in between incoherent mumbling: Jason was trying to consult the terminal screen and a text book at the same time, with mixed results.

" You were helping Tommy? ", Billy perked up. If Jason was finally on speaking terms with Tommy again, it meant that he was on a good road to be back to normal after the events of the Green Candle.

" He roped me into going to the demonstration with him. No big deal. ", Jason shrugged, jotting down another few notes. The pages of his notebook were criss-crossed with annotations.

Billy shook his head in amusement. It might not have been a big deal for Jason, but it probably meant that Tommy managed to convince Jason that the Candle wasn't his fault. It would be great news for the rest of the group, who were growing exasperated with Jason and his stubborn demeanor. " Do you need any help with that? "

Jason acted startled at the question. " No! No, Billy, that's fine. ", he replied with a grin. He could see the young genius was appraising him, and he couldn't blame him. He had to make it up to his friends for all the fussing he made them do.

* * *

Kevin cracked a smile as he listened to the two friends talk, oblivious that he was paying attention. So he finally knew why Jason had been in such an inquisitive and sharing mood last night. It was a welcome improvement, Kevin mused as he trailed another cable from the floor and up to the table. Of course, he hadn't told Jason yet of his own decision. It had been barely twelve hours that facts were laid bare, and he had yet to take his time and come to grips with his decision. He didn't doubt Jason would be thrilled to hear that he wasn't about to let the Power just kill him.

He finally extricated himself from under the table, and pulled the terminal off it, neatly stacking it under the seat. It was a weekend job that awaited him, but manning the computing lab was an extracurricular that he enjoyed. Finally, he dragged his backpack over to the empty seat and pulled out his textbooks. Just because he had to look after the lab in this period did not mean that he couldn't get some studying done. Exam season was in full swing, and he was determined to give it his best to graduate at the top of the class in order to pursue his college of choice. He wasn't about to let a brush with death or two hinder him.

* * *

When Trini cleared the doorway into the school's library, it was already thronged by students. It came to no surprise to the Vietnamese student: the study period was in full swing, and the rest of her colleagues were catching up to their schoolwork in earnest. She calmly walked over the aisle containing books on civics and carefully went over the titles. Finally picking out two books from the top shelf, she walked over where she had spotted Kimberly hunched over her own textbooks. The seat opposite to the petite gymnast was free, and Trini dropped her bag next to seeing her friend take her place, Kimberly offered a small smile as a greeting and stopped fidgeting with her pen.

" You'd think something was handed out in here how full it is. ", Kimberly nodded towards the clumps of people dispersed around the library.

" The school board's having a meeting so that's what we get. ", Trini remarked, picking up the first of her stack of books.

" Seen any of the boys out of class? ", Kimberly made a show of nibbling at her pen, momentarily stumped at how to proceed with her essay.

" I think everyone scattered after class. We're supposed to meet Ernie after school though. ", Trini offered a small reminder, at which Kimberly perked up.

" You're right. Ernie's training the kids for the soccer tournament. ", Kim stretched. " He's already on the field, isn't he? "

" That's right. He's supposed to be with the kids at the Community Park. ", Trini shrugged, jotting down a note in her textbook.

" It might do the guys good to get their minds off recent happenings. Especially Jason. ", Kimberly sighed as she turned another page over and stared at it with no concentration.

" I couldn't agree more. ", Trini conceded, gingerly opening the book in front of her. The two girls sank in silence as they focused each on her own homework, all the while the bustle in the library carried on around them. Now was a time to forget, at least for an hour, that they were superheroes and to give their best effort in keeping up a normal life.

* * *

He checked and rechecked his watch in annoyance, but the hands of the stainless steel contraption seemed to move slower than ever. The roar of the passing vehicles did not help: it only reminded him of his predicament. He adjusted his suit cuffs and strode over the timetable once again, briefcase in tow. The elder lady siting the closest to the timetable board gave him a look of disapproval. She was just one of many, young and old, waiting today for their fare, and his pacing for the last ten minutes was starting to be unseemly. The bus was late. He snorted his disapproval at the thought that his car had to break down today, and he'd be late to his very important meeting. And now the damn bus was late. What was about today that made everything go wrong? It couldn't get any worse, could it?

He craned his neck again, looking over the waves of vehicles for the tell-tale red and white of the city's transportation. Finally, the much-awaited vehicle was in the distance, slowly making its way through the traffic. Just as the people lined up in a queue, the unthinkable happened: cars screeched to a halt as the air two meters above the road opened in a flash of ominous light. As the first gray figures started appearing from the hole and landing haphazardly, drivers came to a stop in panic as the drivers tried to back up, causing several chain impacts. The boulder hands of the attacking monsters smashed against concrete and steel, in some cases breaking through car windows to get at the drivers inside. People scattered as droves of Putties ran amok on the city streets. Meeting and annoyance forgotten, the man broke into a panicked run, just one of many.

* * *

Kevin's eyes widened as his gut clenched in a knot, the sensation of immediate danger overwhelming his senses. He clenched his head above his books, suddenly unable to think straight of anything but the fact he should not be here, but somewhere else. By the time he managed to get his bearings anew and steady the rush that overcame him, the school alarm system blared into life, drowning the chatter in the computer lab. The sound sequence was one every student became familiar with in the last year, a whooping sound that brought news of a monster attack. Even with his heart hammering in his chest as the adrenaline surge resurfaced, Kevin bound up from his chair and took position at the main breaker panel, setting his watch. This drill had been ingrained in his bones.

" Emergency shutdown! One minute! ", he bellowed, meeting eyes with the two Rangers in civilian clothing and hoping they had one minute. " Everyone to the nearest exit! "

The procedure was clumsy and irregular, but the school board they'd rather risk equipment damage than human casualties if a monster attack ever happened at the school. Kevin watched the students save their work quickly and set the terminals into shutdown, before they hurriedly lined out of the door with whatever books they had out disorderly tucked in their arms. Jason grabbed his brother's arm in an attempt of reassurance before the teen in red was out of the door: Kevin had to be the last to stay. The seconds on the watch painfully ticked down and once the first beep of the watch heralded that one minute passed, Kevin tripped the breaker board despite several terminals still powering down, plunging the lab into silence. Finally locking down the lab, he took the very rear of the evacuation with the other student lab heads on this floor: they were as much in charge of the well-being of their colleagues as were the teachers that stood at the main junctions to direct the evacuation. Despite the scrutiny of his colleagues and the teachers, he knew that the monster-safe areas and shelters were not where he was going to be.

* * *

Billy tentatively elbowed his way through the evacuating crowd, straining to keep the black and red shirt of his friend somewhere in his sight. His school books were awkwardly held in the crook of his arm, and his backpack hung from his left shoulder. The crowd surged forward towards the nearest fire exit, and Billy just barely held on his bag and glasses as people jostled in an effort to get out of the building. The evacuation was as orderly as they could make it, given the circumstances: nobody took monster alerts for granted, even if it were a drill. There had been too many casualties in other parts of the city when people ignored the warnings.

The young genius didn't need to imagine his communicator beeping inside his backpack, muffled by the general cacophony. He was sure Zordon and Alpha had lined up a briefing, but the group had to get out of sight first. There was no time to regroup. Each member would have to find their own way to the Command Center. For Billy it was almost trivial: he shouldered his way through and quickly ducked into one of the side corridors leading to the toilets. Once safely out of sight, he rummaged in his bag for his communicator, and moments later a streak of blue took him away from the school premises.

* * *

Zack was pacing the Command Center chamber for the n-th time in two minutes. When the monster alarm blared across the city, he had been in front of the school, taking a breath of fresh air before heading to start on his schoolwork in the study period. It had been trivial for him to then duck into the nearest blind spot and teleport away before the rest of the school evacuated. Zordon and Alpha did not speak a word to the Black Ranger: the automaton was still trying to estimate the scale of the invasion, and Zordon seemed very worried by the scenes that played out on the Viewing Globe.

Two more streaks heralded the arrival of the two girls. Mildly disheveled and shaken, both girls dropped their bags to one side. Of the two, Kimberly looked mildly annoyed as she untied her hair. Billy was next to appear in the streak of blue, his arms wrapped around his books. The young genius seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of the Command Center. Last to arrive was Jason, his face contorted in a frown. The five Rangers waited for a moment more, then caught each other's looks. They had been expecting Tommy to arrive, and now were almost rudely reminded he won't be responding to emergencies anymore.

" Zordon, got anything for us? ", Jason spoke up gruffly.

" RANGERS, THE SITUATION IS DIRE. ", Zordon nodded toward the Viewing Globe as the screen flickered and changed steadily every fifteen seconds. " AT THE CURRENT COUNT, THERE HAVE BEEN FIVE ACTIVE PORTALS IN THE CITY. A TROOP OF PUTTIES HAS BEEN DEPLOYED BY RITA IN AN ASSAULT OF THE SCALE NOT YET SEEN ON EARTH." The screen briefly changed to finally show the latest monster, a humanoid shark wielding a chain blade resembling a fin. It roamed the main streets, only its fin visible above ground until it was time to strike. Before the Rangers' eyes it ran afoul of a police officer, and the man was skewered in half in a second, the monster gorging itself on the bloody body parts before it dived back under. " THE SLIPPERY SHARK IS CURRENTLY RAVAGING THE CENTER OF YOUR CITY, AND THE CIVILIAN TALLY IS RISING FAST. YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY IS TO INTERCEPT THE SLIPPERY SHARK AND DESTROY IT. IT WILL BE NO SMALL FEAT, SINCE IT IS EXTREMELY AGILE AND CAN TRAVEL UNDER ANY KIND OF TERRAIN."

" Do we know where it's going? ", Billy asked after suppressing a nervous gulp.

" The monster has no determined destination. ", Alpha turned to face the Rangers.

" Guys, what about Ernie? ", Kimberly suddenly remembered with horror. " He and the kids are in the park. What if that thing reaches them? "

" RANGERS, YOU MUST FOCUS ON THE MONSTER. ", Zordon admonished his charges. " IF YOU CAN GET RID OF THE MONSTER, IT WILL BE EASIER TO TAKE CARE OF THE PUTTIES. "

" Right. ", Jason muttered, all the while thinking of the three people not here now. His stomach tightened in a nervous knot thinking of them out on the line right now, and he fought to not let it show. His face hardened in response to the brutality happening in the city, and he reached for his morpher without a word, followed by his friends. The Rangers called upon the Power of the Grid one by one once more and were sent into battle. Zordon and Alpha could only watch, worried, as their charges went into yet another deadly battle.

* * *

Tommy was falling back through the crowd. He had been in one of the classrooms on the second floor when the alarm sounded, and was now trying to figure out how to get out of the line. His friends needed his help, even thought he had no powers anymore. He didn't doubt that they were already gone to meet the newest threat head on. The school had several safe zones around it, and the crowd of students was split several ways to get them to safety. He thought he finally reached the end of the line, when he bumped into someone. The person spun him about and out of the line with a grunt.

" Keep running. ", Kevin's voice came behind him, and Tommy turned slightly to see the other teen running alongside him, face livid.

" You know where the attack is? ", Tommy didn't hesitate to let his surprise show. Had something changed since he told Syrek what transpired?

" Five points. ", Kevin grunted out, taking a wide arc that steered them clear of another group of people going for the shelters. " I don't…", the words stopped in his throat as his mind came up blank: he couldn't explain why he knew the details of the attack. " Thing is, one of the attack points is in the park. "

As soon as he heard that, Tommy immediately let go of asking how Kevin knew at all where the monsters were striking as a previously promised obligation came to mind. " Ernie. Shit."

" Keep running. ", Kevin repeated as he accelerated, spurred on by something he couldn't grasp. They covered ground quickly, leaving the school premises far behind and coming in sight of the park. The sight that opened before them gave Tommy pause: screams echoed across the open space as Putties ran amok, with several people laying in the dust, unconscious or dead. Tommy could catch a glimpse where the Putties had struck each body, leaving a trail of shattered bones and blood. His stomach tightened at the sight of broken skulls and lifeless bodies: the Rangers had come to grips that casualties are unavoidable, but such scale hasn't been seen since his evil Ranger days. Kevin seemed to ignore it all, however, and the Putties unfortunate enough to stand in their way were quickly tossed aside. Tommy's eyes widened as he finally saw what they approached: Ernie was in the center of the soccer field, making a show of swinging a stick he found somewhere at the advancing Putties while the kids cowered behind him. Tommy tightened his jaw as he plunged into the melee.

* * *

When the alarms had sounded, Syrek had been out and about on his day job, a cover so flimsy he sometimes wondered why he bothered at all. He had been one among the many to help usher people towards the shelters, but he knew he wouldn't be taking cover himself. He allowed the Grid to pull his inner sight along to the trouble spots, taking in the scope of the assault. He wasn't a Guardian anymore, but some perks were still there. Among the darkness that crept on from the five points across the city, he noticed a single spark that made him smile. How fast had things changed. The spark was a far cry from the familiar signature he knows it will become, but it was growing. He noticed five others, vastly different and much weaker from the signatures he knew, and he decided he'd evade that particular spot. The Rangers were facing down the monster. Ushering the last of the civilians out of he building, Syrek started in the direction of the park. It was the place that needed the most help.

* * *

The quarry vibrated with the echo of the city's sirens. Goldar was startled out of his reverie by the wailing sound, and it took the alien several seconds to recognize it. He remembered fighting regularly in the midst of such cacophony whenever he'd lead an attack into the heart of the city. The fact it was sounding now send shivers down his spine: Rita was out of her seclusion and she has without a doubt noticed his absence. His life was in jeopardy now more than ever, and he knew he had to find the young human before he got captured. He had to know if he had a chance. While he put on his armor, Goldar mused on his situation: the young human would not trust him, not after that fateful day, and he could not count on the Rangers' assistance. The chance of his survival were slim, and he didn't doubt that before the day was over, he'd become just another body in Rita's experiments. The thought brought chagrin: he came so close and if he had a little more time, he might have been able to plead his case.

As he holstered his sword in the scabbard hanging from his hip, Goldar found solace in a single fact: the monster attack will make it easier for him to locate the Rangers. The civilians were likely to have scurried away, leaving the city an almost lifeless battlefield as the humans' collective breaths were held in the anticipation of a victory…or a defeat. The Camian was going to use this situation to its extreme advantage, and no matter the final outcome, he decided he will not plead for his life in front of the witch: he knew he was doing the right thing.

* * *

By the time the Rangers teleported on the last known location of the monster, it had moved on. The trail of destruction didn't go very far, and they spotted the monster wantonly wielding its chain blade in an arc, the deadly razor passing effortlessly through cars and street lamps alike. The ruined vehicles oozed out engine fluid and fuel, making parts of the street one spark away from a fire and filling the air with the sharp tang of car fuel. There were people cowering behind the glass doors of the nearby business building, and the monster was taking its time moving towards them, as if it were enjoying every second of their terror and the knowledge that nothing could stop its advance. The Rangers were here to prove it wrong.

" Hey, fish-head! What do you think you're doing? ", Jason's voice carried across the street with all its might, and the Shark turned to the newcomers.

" Amusing myself while waiting for you to be my next chow, of course. ", the Shark snidely answered, curling the chain blade back. " Your fellow humans will make for a fine desert afterward. "

" You can forget about that. ", Zack was the one who bellowed next as the Rangers summoned their weapons. " Your rampage stops here and now! "

" We will see about that soon enough. ", the monster growled, throwing its fin at the Yellow and Black Rangers, causing them to have to leap aside to evade the blow, but also missing by inches a civilian who was trying to make his way out of the fighting zone from a nearby building.

" Red! We need to get the civilians out of here! ", he yelled at Jason, who nodded as he deflected another fin strike with his Power Sword.

" Zack, Kim, get these people out. ", Jason ordered over the internal comm as he came to skid over a patch of oil. "Me and the rest will try to lure this monster out of the city to minimize damage. "

The two Rangers immediately complied and banished their weapons. They knew that if they tried to use their weapons here, they could cause a conflagration which would further complicate matters. Instead they dashed to the immediate hiding points of the people, using the link to the Command Center to find the most reliable routes to send people away, all the while the rest of the Rangers closed the distance between them and the Shark. One by one, they'd usher people into side alleys, away from the perilous fight that moved across the main street. The monster zipped back and forth, and the Rangers had a hard time pinning him to a place, but they'd take one step forward and three steps back, goading the shark monster to follow them. Slowly but surely, the battle was finally advancing out of the city proper.

* * *

While the Slippery Shark had been sent off to the more business oriented part of the city to keep the Rangers busy, Scorpina emerged at the far side of the park, among the Putties. For a change, she relished the easy pickings of this area, and many a human was used as target practice for her energy blasts. As the adults and the kids alike scrambled to get away from this attack, explosions dotted the area, injuring many and killing some. The smell of burnt grass and charred flesh reminded Scorpina of the good old days of conquest and she watched with an evil grin as some Putties chased after humans, others taking their time to destroy public property. Just as Scorpina turned, her gaze fell upon a small boy who was frozen in fear and watching at her. Smiling wickedly, she drew her sword at the boy and was ready to fire.

" Stop right there! ", a voice called on her. As she turned, she saw a well built teen in a white shirt and dark blue trousers running up to her. She just widened her smile, recognizing the human from Rita's failed ritual and relishing in the prospect that she might get a proper workout this day. She launched herself at Kevin with a wicked grin and sword thrust in front of her. The teen barely managed to side-step the thrust of her sword, ramming himself shoulder first into her guard. The impact sent the scorpion-woman staggering backward, but she regained balance all too quickly for the human to follow. She whirled around, her tail whipping at the human's face, its deadly barb missing his eye by inches, instead leaving a deep trail of blood on his cheek. The teen instinctively drew backwards, hands is a loose guard. The alien laughed: she wasn't sure what the human thought to accomplish, powerless and unarmed against her, one of the better bounty hunters the galaxy had to offer. Stabbing forward with her tail, she pressed her advantage, allowing her tail strikes to make way for her crescent sword.

Kevin barely caught movement out in the corner of his eye, and saw that the boy whom he protected has fled. He couldn't allow himself to look to the side, and he prayed that Tommy managed to get Ernie and the rest of the kids out of the way. His heart was hammering wildly in his chest as he kept his eyes on Scorpina, and he tried to keep his breathing in check. This was a battle in which he was sure he was greatly outmatched, yet as he moved, the world stood out in a new sense of hyper-awareness. His vision caught even the slightest twitch of the alien's movement, and instead of exhaustion he felt a growing sense of energy singing in his veins. But this wasn't the darkness that had haunted his dreams, its tempting tendrils nowhere to be felt in his mind. He ducked and dodged through the alien's blows with a nimbleness he didn't think possible, and he caught the alien woman raise an eyebrow at him in both surprise and amusement.

A sword strike passed too close to his chest, and in a moment of panic he extended his arm downward, as if he had a weapon with which to riposte back into a upward slash. To his surprise, there was heaviness in his hand and he brought a sword up with a brilliant arc of light that caught both of the combatants off guard. He recognized the sword well enough, but he wasn't sure how the Guardian's weapon passed from the weapon locker in his room to his hand. Without time to think further, he followed the upward slash in, reversing the blow and landing the blade onto the scorpion-woman's tail. Scorpina hissed in return as she whipped her tail into his face instinctively and bounded back, the pain as fierce as if she had dipped her tail in acid.

The battle now evened, Scorpina frowned: she recognized the weapon well enough from legends of old, but she never thought the weapon would make a reappearance after the teen had removed it from the temple in his rampage. Especially not in the hands of his Void-tainted fool. She barred her teeth at her opponent, charging energy into her blade as she was determined to finish the fight as soon as possible. Rita would reward her like no other if she brought back the weapon and the body of its wielder.

A twist and a leap brought Scorpina back face-to-face with her opponent, locking swords so closely they could stand eye-to-eye. She barred her teeth as her injured tail lashed out, enveloping the teen's torso and pulling him closer in a mocking embrace. She licked her lips as she slightly angled her sword and the energy discharged into the teen in a blaze that enveloped his upper body like a sheath. The surprise in the teen's eyes lasted only a moment, replaced by pain as he screamed. She whipped the burning body away from her and watched as the deed was done.

* * *

Goldar has flown through the air with all the speed he could muster, closing in towards the open green area where he could see explosions spewing up in the air. The sight that greeted him made him draw a deep breath: Putties were chasing after humans, many of the humans were injured, some were dead. His eyes widened as he noticed the battle ahead of him: two figures clashed furiously one against another, and by the presence of the tail he correctly guessed that one of them was Scorpina. Closing the distance, he had hoped that the other figure was one of the Rangers, perhaps the Red one who always had a penchant for single combat, but the more he drew by, the more his hopes were crushed. His horror grew as he recognized the Red Ranger's brother standing his ground, Guardian sword blazing in his hand. As the last act of that battle unfolded in front of him, Goldar muttered a prayer to himself and angled himself towards Scorpina, willing himself to go faster.

He was too late. A flash of energy leaving Scorpina's sword at point blank range told the Camian there was nothing he could do, even as he crashed into the other alien with an inarticulate roar. The two tumbled across the ground, wrestling in a tangle of limbs. Goldar was the first off the ground, having used his wings to propel himself back into the air with difficulty after such a harsh landing.

" Finally. ", Scorpina commented with a grin as she pulled herself up, her own sword coming back to her in a flash. " The traitor decides to show up as Rita predicted. You know, she set up this little slaughter for you. I'll get double the reward once I turn you and this carcass in to Rita. "

" We shall see. ", Goldar growled at her, his sword sliding effortlessly out of its resting place. The two clashed in a fury of strikes, neither gaining the upper hand. Goldar's wings gave him the extra mobility he needed to counter Scorpina's reach with her tail, and they had sparred all too often for the camian to know how she preferred to fight.

" So why did you desert your Empress? ", Scorpina asked in a sneer as she vaulted sideways, evading a jab of Goldar's sword. " You have committed countless atrocities for her and Zedd. Do you really think anyone would offer you forgiveness? Believe you have changed?"

" I found another way. ", the camian growled in return, batting Scorpina's tail away with the flat of his sword. He could still see the blood streaming from the open wound in her tail, and figured that the human now laying unconscious on the ground did indeed put up a good fight.

" You and the Void-tainted? I didn't think you for such a fool. ", Scorpina answered, having caught the Camian's look towards the lifeless body. " I don't know how he commanded that damn sword, but I just did the Universe a favor. If you thought you would deliver him back into the Void for a reward for yourself, you've overextended your reach. "

In response, Goldar just launched himself at the other alien at speed that bellied his size. His rising rage gave his strikes renewed ferocity, and at last, his sword pierced Scorpina's side. She scorpion-woman paled in disbelief as pain shot up her armored form and she sprang back from a strike that threatened to decapitate her. Clutching her wound without a word, she vanished in a stream of black, leaving Goldar alone with the sword and the body. As he knelt next to the body, his only solace was that Scorpina had gotten it all wrong.

* * *

The Rangers have been worn out by their own battle, the fact showing in their slowed movement. The Slippery Shark proved to be too fast for them to hit, and they could only watch as the fin zig-zagged towards them when the monster was moving under the ground. The good news was that they had lured the monster out of the city and Kimberly and Zack could return to help them in combat instead of worrying about getting civilians out of hit range or starting a fire with their weapons. Kimberly placed herself at a higher ground and held a Power Arrow ready in her bow, looking for the familiar fin to enter sight. Zack had taken a different position, with his Power Axe in cannon mode, the targeting reticle in his visor frantically following his eyes. Jason, Trini and Billy had spread in the middle of the area overlooked by their two comrades, tightly clutching their Blade Blasters in anticipation. Jason almost jumped as his internal comm gave a beeping sound, and he faintly smiled as he saw the other two have the same reaction.

" RANGERS, I URGE YOU TO FINISH YOUR BATTLE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ", Zordon's voice came over the speakers in their helmets. " SCORPINA HAS APPEARED IN THE PARK ALONG THE PUTTIES AND SHE HAS JOINED THE FRAY. KEVIN, TOMMY AND SYREK ARE ON LOCATION, BUT YOU MUST HURRY AND CLEAR THE CITY. "

The Rangers turned to look at each other, at what could be taken as exchanging worried glances. Nobody questioned how their three friends got to their own battle: Zordon must've directed them. Jason confirmed that they got the message just as Kimberly sighted the fin of the Slippery Shark going near the three Rangers. She and Zack fired, managing to get in a few shots, enough for the Shark to decide that it would be better to be above ground. Just as it jumped out of the ground, the other three Rangers were waiting, directed by the two sharpshooters, with their Blade Blasters at the ready and their stray-and-pray barrage staggered the monster. Taking advantage of the temporary disorientation of the monster, Jason was the first into the fray, his Power Sword finding a soft spot under the monster's scaly hide. Billy was close by, ramming his spear into the monster's foot and knee, the weapon savagely bursting through artificial tissue. The distraction opened the way for Trini, who nimbly danced around the monster with her daggers out, evading the now flailing attacks. Billy and Jason were all around her, their weapon strikes complementing hers in keeping the monster from escaping under the ground.

Kimberly did her part in the battle, letting loose a stream of arrows towards the softer spots outlined by her HUD. Zack's cannon roared several times, delivering devastating blasts into the monster's torso before the Black Ranger changed its weapon mode and swung the Power Axe in a wide arc, finally coming into contact with the chain of the monster's weapon and severing it. The combined assault by the Rangers sent the Slippery Shark on its knees, and the Rangers brought their weapons together, forming the Power Blaster and finally dispatching the monster in a streak of light. As the monster disintegrated in front of them, the weary Rangers looked at one another, feeling the blows the monster had inflicted on them. Their powers worked hard to counteract the tiredness and pain, and the group knew that this was just one battle. Now they had to reach the other one and clean up the city.

* * *

Tommy kicked and punched furiously, each of his attacks connecting with a Putty, causing the clay golems to back off. He panted as he dodged their boulder hands: his endurance against the automatons was suffering since he didn't have the Power anymore. But his dogged perseverance had paid off: several hits would finally disintegrate a Putty and he inched slowly to where Ernie made a feeble show of holding them off for the kids. To his surprise, the Putties on the opposite side of the field were being flung back, and a short glimpse revealed Syrek plowing through the golems with ease. The two finally met near Ernie, the terrified Youth Center owner staring bug-eyed at the two fighters.

" Are you out of your mind, Tommy? ", finally, the establishment proprietor found his voice when he recognized the teen. " You should be in a shelter! "

" We promised we'd meet you here, Ernie. Couldn't just leave you hanging. ", Tommy panted out, looking over the kids huddled together. In the distance there was another fight going on, but he couldn't tell what was happening. He felt uneasy as he knew that was where Kevin had been headed.

" Thanks, Tommy. You're a good kid. ", Ernie turned to the man in uniform next to him. " You're a sight for sore eyes. "

" Takeshi Takeda, at your service. ", Syrek forced a smile, using the name that had been so ingrained with his stay here. " I apologize for not getting here sooner. The city's a ruckus. Get the kids out of here. "

" That's the plan. ", Ernie nodded and motioned to Tommy. " Help me out, will ya? "

Tommy just nodded as Ernie started rounding up scared kids around himself. He saw a kid, terrified but unscathed, run towards the group: obviously one of them had wandered off. Tommy caught Syrek's eyes, and the former Ranger nodded at him to go with the kids. No other words were needed: they'd meet up somewhere else later. They had started their trek towards he edge of the park when Tommy caught the teleportation streaks of the Rangers to their right. The streaks solidified in the forms of the weary, colored fighters, and he watched the group give a brief salute to the kids before they launched themselves after the Putties, weapons barred. The clean-up barely lasted a minute: the Putties were no match for the Rangers, who were bolstered by the sight of the kids rescued.

The clean-up at its end and the civilians out of their way, they linked up with Syrek and hastened to the last known location of Scorpina. The sight that greeted them left them holding their breath: Goldar was hunched over Kevin's immobile form, head bowed, and holding it almost protectively. The flame that had engulfed his torso and arms had been extinguished, but the teen gave no signs of life. The Rangers pointed their Blasters towards the alien, but he gave no reaction to the threat. One of his golden gauntlets was off, and two taloned fingers stood on the teen's singed neck, checking for a pulse. The Red Ranger brandished his Power Sword and closed the distance in long, angry strides.

" What have you done to him?", Jason bellowed in anger, his voice coming distorted over the helmet filters.

The alien raised his head as if he was only now aware of the danger. " It was not me, it was Scorpina.", was all Goldar could manage out.

Billy moved to restrain Jason's arm when it was obvious the Red Ranger would lash out with the Power Sword. He understood Jason's anger, but reason was needed now more than ever. He felt Jason starting to wrench his arm out of Billy's grip, but at the same time, the communication channel from Zordon opened, and the sage's voice boomed in their helmets. " IF YOU COULD PLEASE RETURN TO THE COMMAND CENTER. GOLDAR INCLUDED."

The Rangers looked at one another, then at Goldar. Trini moved towards the alien, motioning him to stand up. Goldar complied, taking up the body of the fallen teen in his arms as he did so. A flash of yellow revealed one of the Power Daggers in the Yellow Ranger's hand, while the other hand gripped him by the armor. The message was clear: one wrong move and Goldar's long lifetime could be very well coming to an end. Syrek picked up the Guardian sword carefully, his tenure as a former Guardian allowing him to pick up the weapon carefully where anyone else would be repelled. The weapon still acted as if it had a wielder, which the former Ranger took as a good sign. The Rangers encircled protectively Goldar and Syrek, and the group disappeared in a rainbow flash.

* * *

Appearing in the Command Center, the Rangers quickly scattered around. Alpha and Trini ushered Goldar into the corridors that would lead them to the medical bay, while Billy set aside his helmet to check over the systems of the Center. The remaining Rangers' voiced erupted in a clamor, while Syrek stood aside, coming to rest next to one of the consoles. His stern facade had cracked and showed worry for his pupil. Moments later, Tommy appeared in the Command Center, having finally gotten free from the company of Ernie and the kids.

" Zordon, what the Hell?", it was Zack bellowing, eyes glued to their mentor. " He killed Kevin and now you allow him to come here?"

" ZACK, CALM YOURSELF.", Zordon entreated the Black Ranger calmly. He noticed the Red Ranger was quiet, and recognized that Jason likely kept quiet lest he said something he regretted later in response to Zack deeming Kevin already lost. Kimberly had taken off her helmet and enveloped her arms around Jason's waist, as if the quiet gesture would help him calm down.

" I might have given him the benefit of a doubt before, but this…", Jason started angrily but a look from Zordon silenced the Red Ranger.

" RANGERS, PLEASE OBSERVE.", Zordon asked of them as the Viewing Globe lit up. Everyone present in the room paled visibly as the recording of the battle replayed on the display. Scorpina's assault and injuring of their friend was shown as clear as they had been there, as well as Goldar's subsequent assault and wounding of the other alien. As the recording came to an end, the air in the central chamber became subdued. Zordon turned to the Red Ranger. " THE CAMIAN'S INTENTIONS SEEM CLEAR. "

" The intention to make Kevin evil again? ", Zack snorted, crossing his arms. " Yep, really clear there. "

" I WOULD LIKE ONE OF YOU TO TALK TO GOLDAR AND GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS. ", Zordon stated, watching this Rangers intently. " TWICE NOW HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CAUSE HARM WHICH HE DID NOT TAKE."

" I'd say we throw him into a prison somewhere instead. ", Zack voiced his disagreement. " That's what he'd have done."

" RED RANGER, IF YOU WILL. ", Zordon's tone belied the fact that it was not a request he was making. " WE SHALL FIND OUT WHAT GOLDAR'S INTENTIONS ARE. "

" He played us so many times. We shouldn't be trusting anything he says. ", Zack shot back, glaring at their mentor.

" WE CANNOT AFFORD TO JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS. ", Zordon said gravely, watching the Black Ranger mull it over. He had expected this kind of argument. " FIND OUT WHAT HE KNOWS, RED RANGER. THE REST OF YOU, THERE ARE STILL PUTTIES ON THE LOOSE. "

Zack was about to protest, but he was cut short by Jason storming out of the main chamber, no doubt heading for the medical facilities. Zack just frowned and teleported out, recognizing Zordon's tone of dismissal. The old sage was right: there were civilians to save. The tension in the room finally dissipated as Kimberly and Billy were all that was left present of the Ranger team. The two looked at each other and then exchanged looks with Tommy: none of them were sure what could be done by questioning Goldar. The alien could be manipulating them all for all they knew. It was with that thought that the Rangers teleported out to join Zack in the cleanup, while Tommy headed to the medical bay, just as Syrek teleported in, sword in hand.

" THE SWORD?", Zordon directed his attention to his arriving former teammate.

" Acts as it still has a wielder.", the other man replied, carefully enveloping the artifact in cloth. " There is hope."

" I HAVE NOT KNOWN YOU TO BE AN OPTIMIST. ", Zordon frowned, " FIRST HIS TRAINING, NOW THIS."

" It is not optimism.", came the answer gruffly, " It is fact. He did what had to be done. He still has a lot to learn, but today he acted as a Silver Guardian. He even summoned the sword to his side. "

" A FLUKE. ", Zordon was terse. He still felt that the teen should have been confined somewhere due to his exposure. As much faith as he could've had in the resiliency of the humans, he knew what the Void did to those who were exposed to it. And it was just a matter of time for this one.

" Bullshit. ", Syrek replied back. " We both know it's no fluke. That Power is his to wield and it will protect him. "

" IT IS POSSIBLE. BUT IF GOLDAR IS CORRECT AND ZEDD IS ARRIVING, YOUR EFFORTS MIGHT JUST PUT US ALL IN DANGER. ", Zordon admitted grudgingly. It was not unknown for Rangers to endure similar wounds themselves and still live to go back into the fight, but it was always those that already held their full powers. This bond was neither here nor there.

" Don't you think the Council meddled enough?", Syrek asked, choosing not to focus on the news Zordon had just given him. Zedd was a concern for another day. " They try to influence something that has gone on since Gods knows when."

" THE DEEDS THAT THE SILVER GUARDIANS COMMITTED WERE A REASON ENOUGH. ", Zordon made a weak attempt at rebuttal, " WE CANNOT ALLOW SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO REPEAT. "

" We were all at fault. We should have listened, and yet we did not. Xanth paid the price for that. ", Syrek sounded defeated as he voiced his thoughts, " You and I both know that this cannot go on. We've both been Guardians! You should know better than that how those powers work. "

Zordon did not answer, as there was really no need. The old sage knew that his former colleague was right, having had over ten thousand years to ponder over his regrets since he was trapped in a time warp by Rita. He closed his eyes for a moment, the systems of the Command Center showing him the view in the medical bay where Alpha 5 and Trini circled with urgency around one of the medical tanks, tubes and wires connected to the body laying on it. Tommy had been there was well, the former Ranger putting some bandages on his arms where the Putties clipped him. The Red Ranger was standing outside the door with his helmet under his arm, as if afraid to enter and confront the scene that would have greeted him. As he returned his sight back to the tube and the central chamber, he found himself alone; Syrek had quietly left the room.

* * *

In the medical lab, Trini had finished setting up all the necessary instruments for the tank to do its work, her friend's injuries beyond anything she could treat. She carefully slid the glass door closed, watching as Alpha 5 sealed the chamber and the machinery powering it rumbled to life. As the tank filled with fluid that would speed up healing and help tissue regeneration, her eyes came to rest on the life support monitor, the barely present jagged line there a sore reminder that its occupant might not be coming back. It had been a wonder that there were any life signs at all. Alpha had busied himself with adjusting the tank further, and now the little robot stood quietly over it.

The Yellow Ranger turned to the alien that sat on the next cot, wings not quite furled against his back, drooping down in the mood of the alien. Goldar was staring at his hands as if mesmerized, and hadn't protested when they had disarmed him of his sword. Noticing blood dripping along the golden armor, Trini nudged the Camian out of his reverie, antiseptic and bandages in her hands. She would not let herself be caught idle.

" Let me look at you.", she commanded and to her surprise, Goldar complied without a word. She did her best to clean up the small slash wounds that had gotten in between the chinks of the armor, and then wiped the nearest area clean. " So why did you do it?"

Goldar looked at Trini in surprise when he heard the question. " Did what?", was all he managed.

" Leave Rita. Tried to help.", Trini elaborated, leaning against a patch of empty wall. She did not trust the alien, but if there was even an inkling that an enemy could turn into an ally, she decided to take it.

" Selfish reasons, Yellow Ranger, selfish reasons.", Goldar muttered, looking at the monitors that steadily beeped. The doors of the medical bay opened, revealing Jason, his expression reflecting his somber mood. His eyes darting first to the medical tank where his brother lay, them over to the alien sitting next to it. Trini thought that Jason might lash out at Goldar, and was ready to tell her brash leader to take the argument outside of medical, but the Red Ranger just came to stand in front of the alien, face stern.

" Zordon showed us what happened.", Jason spoke, words coming hard, " I owe you an apology.", he finished almost through gritted teeth. Goldar was the last person any of them ever thought they'd have to apologize.

" You don't owe me anything.", Goldar replied, looking over at the teen whom he tried to kill so many times. A smile danced in the corner of his face: he had practically seen this human and his friends growing from sloppy fighters to a formidable force. He had always been overconfident against them, but the truth of the matter was that he should feel no shame at losing against them. " None of this wouldn't have happened if I didn't leave Rita's service. "

" So why did you do it? ", Jason tried hard not to show his distrust.

" I wanted to join your brother. Satisfied, Red Ranger? ", Goldar let himself raise his voice in frustration. Everything seemed in vain now.

" And why do you think we'd have welcomed it? ", Syrek spoke from the doors to the medical bay, making everyone present jump slightly in surprise. Nobody heard the former Guardian Ranger enter.

" All I wanted was a chance. ", Goldar growled back. " You should know! You've been there! " He watched Syrek bow his head in thought, and then he continued. " I was there when we fell. I was young and foolish, and thought I'd be making a difference serving Lord Zedd. But the only difference we could ever hope to make was to redeem the powers of a warrior we so foolishly followed, without really thinking why. "

Syrek nodded, conceding the point. He remembered that time as if it were yesterday, and it was a burden on his shoulders that he couldn't shake. " I understand. Yet a good deed doesn't redeem you. "

" But it might show others that things can change. I don't care about what others might think of my decisions. I know what I've seen. ", the alien rumbled back. " But it doesn't matter now, does it? ", the growl came out harsh and Trini pulled back, seeing finally the forceful determination of their enemy resurface as Goldar kept speaking. " He's dying, Zedd's on his way, and all of it is for nothing. I suppose it is a relief as well: a Void-tainted no more. "

" Don't you think to jump at that conclusion! ", Jason surged at the alien general, but was barely held in place by the former Red Guardian.

" I wouldn't write the young man off that easy. ", Syrek commented with a smile, to Goldar's surprise. " His life signs are there. He might still make it. "The man turned to Jason. " We should be leaving. There is nothing to be done here. "

Jason nodded, then turned to Goldar, his face stern. " You can stay here to recover for the night, but don't think we won't have wards up around this place. You're not going anywhere else. "

Goldar did not reply, acknowledging the decision with a curt nod. Syrek was the first to leave the medical bay, followed by Trini and lastly Jason, who gave one last glance to their dubious ally. Finally, the Red Ranger stepped outside and the medical bay was plunged into silence.

* * *

In the middle of the night, nobody noticed the jagged life line on the monitor accelerate, and its beeps along it. Minutes passed before the line stabilized, to then resume its frantic acceleration. Only when loud thumping echoed in the darkened medical bay did Goldar wake up frantically, momentarily confused at his surroundings. It took him a second for his eyes to adjust in the darkness, the only source of light in the bay the working healing tank and the screens hooked to it. The alien's eyes widened as he saw the body inside the tank thrashing about, fists thumping against the hermetic enclosure and straining against the very connections that kept it alive. It was even more surprising to notice that a whole new skin layer had formed in such a short time, and Goldar could only wonder at the healing these machines provided.

Goldar jumped to his feet instantly, his claws passing over the monitors and the panels at the side of the healing pod, but ultimately he touched nothing: he had no idea how to operate the machinery present here. Instead, he rushed to the med-bay door and trued to open them. The moment he pressed his palm against the lock mechanism, a jolt sent him to his knees. Shaking and shivering, he took to bang his armored fists against the doors. " Zordon! ", he bellowed exasperated. " Get that lousy tin can here! Something is wrong! "

In the main chamber, the Camian's attempt to force the door had triggered an alarm and Zordon was drawn out of whatever passed for rest in the time warp. Alpha was seconds behind, the little automaton disconnecting from his sleep mode and scurrying over to the computers. Seconds later he zipped down the corridor as Goldar's bellows echoed through the sound systems. He triggered the door locks on the med-bay, but didn't lower the force field containment on it: he could pass through them, but Goldar couldn't.

" Took your damn time. ", Goldar growled as Alpha sauntered inside.

" Ay ay ay. Keep away from me while I attend to the tank. ", Alpha's artificial voice carried fear as he stepped next to the tank and engaged the discharge function. The liquid inside was sucked back into the main tube, leaving Kevin's body to crumple against the tank walls as the liquid that suspended it disappeared. All the while, the tank changed position, coming back to align horizontally. The thrashing stopped when the hermetic seals disengaged, and Alpha struggled to lift the tank cover away. Goldar moved to stand beside the tank and observe, a move that proved an error: the moment the wide-eyed, almost frenzied teen saw him, he attempted to surge forward in panic.

" Restrain him, please. ", Alpha requested and Goldar obliged, pinning the teen down with both arms against the tank. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Alpha brought a loaded syringe to the thrashing teen and stabbed it in Kevin's neck, then pulled the plunger. " Everything is in order. You are safe. ", Goldar was surprised when he heard Alpha tell the teen. " Please, calm yourself. The sedative will help stabilize your heart rate. "

Kevin's eyes darted around, but his breathing was steady, and the few probe connections that he didn't manage to tear off now projected a steady bio-rhythm on the screens flanking the open healing tank. " Are you infected with something? ", the teen growled back in between coughs, but he couldn't find it in himself the strength to move. " Goldar's here, in the middle of the Command Center. "

" Rest assured I'm not here to harm any of you. ", Goldar bowed his head, to Kevin's surprise. " In fact, I am here to meet you. "

" I'd say I've seen enough of you to last me a lifetime. ", Kevin coughed back sarcastically. His torso felt raw, and as he ran his fingers along his skin, he could feel the alien sensation of new tissue not quite formed. The last he remembered was the point blank energy burst that had seared his skin off, and he was sure he wasn't supposed to be breathing right now.

" I know I had a part in your capture. ", Goldar raised his hands apologetically. " At the time, I did not know who you were. But now I know. "

" Whatever you think you know, you're dead wrong. ", the teen shot back, trying to sit up. In a moment that proved to be a wrong decision, and Alpha extended a hand to ease Kevin back down with a shake of its saucer-like head.

" So you're not one of the Chosen, destined to be the Silver Guardian? ", Goldar cocked his head quizzically, and Kevin looked wide-eyed at the alien. Barring his teeth in a wide grin at the human's surprise, Goldar continued: " I am here to offer my sword, as it were. "

" … The fuck? ", Kevin looked at the ceiling as he swore. The last two days were shaping up to be some of the most bizarre experience of his life. " I think I have enough problems without having to worry whether you stab me in the back. "

" I know that my word doesn't count for much right now: I have forsworn my oath to Rita. ", Goldar sat back down on the medical cot next to the healing tank. " But I give it anyways: I'll aid you as long as you'll have me along. Otherwise, you are welcome to pass sentence on me or leave me simply stranded here until the consequences of my actions catch up to me. "

The statement gave Kevin pause. He looked at where Alpha was standing, watching and listening quietly the exchange between the two. It was taken for granted that Zordon had observed as well through the android's sensors. Kevin closed his eyes, wishing suddenly someone else had been here to witness this exchange and to offer advice. He couldn't ask Zordon: he could tell the Rangers' mentor was apprehensive with anything concerning him. Syrek wasn't here now either to offer guidance he felt he needed. He also remembered all those news reels that often showed the Red Ranger battling the golden-clad warrior in the midst of an attack. The alien before him threatened the life of his brother so many times. Should he just let it go like that? It would be the easiest thing to leave the Camian to fend for himself on Earth, to choose whether Zordon teleports him to another planet or Rita kills him. But the easiest path wasn't always the right one.

With a deep sigh, Kevin settled back on the cot. " I don't know… "

" I am not asking for your full trust. I am asking for a chance. ", Goldar replied tiredly, recognizing the human's tiredness. He had just woken from the healing coma, and it was unfair to expect anything this early.

" We'll see. ", it was the only thing Kevin could mutter, suddenly robbed of what strength he had as the adrenaline rush finally trickled away. His chest hurt with every breath he took. As silence descended on the medical bay, Alpha moved again, his metal hands reaching for the medical supplies that would help the prematurely awakened teen to heal better. There were still ways to go.

* * *

The next day saw Syrek being the first in, his gray teleportation streak startling Zordon out of his reverie. The former teammates did not exchange words as Syrek immediately stormed out of the main chamber and towards the medical bay. Zordon didn't have to ask how the other man knew his protege had been awake: he himself had felt the teen awakening during the night even before the Camian bellowed for help. The strength of the bond the human displayed was unsettling. However, the fact it was there left Zordon no choice but to allow things to proceed as they were. The alternative was something Zordon dreaded doing: he wouldn't be able to look his Chosen in the eyes if he called an execution squad in, no matter the pretense at the safeguarding of the Universe. Jason's remarks from days ago had hit a sore spot. The old sage could only bow his head in renewed introspection. Tough decisions awaited ahead.

* * *

The doors to the medical bay opened with a quiet hiss and Syrek stepped into the room, the smell of antiseptic assailing his senses. He found Kevin laying down on the healing tank slab, chest and arms bandaged tightly so that he resembled from the waist up until his neck a mummy. Kevin acknowledged his mentor with a mute nod, slowly propping himself into a sitting position, careful not to tear away the machine connections that Alpha painstakingly attached back to him after his abrupt awakening during the night. Opposite of him sat Goldar, his armor off and stacked in a corner, leaving the alien general in simple under-armor garments. Goldar offered a deeper bow to the former Ranger, but said nothing.

" So, Goldar… ", Syrek returned the nod, then eyed the alien critically. " Give me one good reason why I shouldn't recommend for you to be handed over to the Council authorities. "

Goldar glanced at the teen sitting opposite, wondering if the human would intercede for him after last night's conversation. " I came here to offer my sword to the Silver Guardian and to warn you about the arrival of Lord Zedd. "

Syrek tried not to filch at the alien's bluntness. Goldar hadn't said anything yesterday, but the fact he was forthcoming with the details without further coercing made an interesting case. " And what makes you think you've found him? ", he inquired further.

" I thought I was seeing things when I saw his eyes flash silver all the while he was resisting the full brunt of the Void. ", Goldar shook his head ruefully, gesturing towards Kevin, who was sitting in silence. " And I was an idiot for realizing too late he was wielding a weapon that he shouldn't have been able to hold. It took me days to figure it out. " He then turned fully to Kevin, bowing his head slightly. " The Red and Green Rangers confirmed you're the silver Chosen. I do confess I obtained that information at sword point, but it brings me here. Again, I'm asking for a chance. "

Syrek nodded his understanding. He knew exactly where the alien was coming from, and understood the significance of this risky endeavor. It did not help that he had played a role in the history and the making of Rita's general. " It's your choice. ", he finally nodded towards Kevin, who gave him a surprised stare.

" You don't seriously expect me to consider it. ", Kevin growled back. " Not after everything he's done. What's the civilian tally so far? " , his voice was loaded with cold anger. " He could've let me go. He could've let the group get Tommy's powers. But if he expects this entire charade to work, he's wrong. "

Goldar stiffened. " I played my part. It won't mean much to you, sheltered as you've been, but I did what I had to do to survive. Do you know what it is to come to a point where you enjoy committing atrocities because it becomes all you've known for so long? "

It was Kevin's turn to tighten his fists up, and he felt the pangs of pain in his arm muscles as he tensed. The alien's remark had been brutally honest and hit the spot as memory reared its ugly head. Of course he knew. For him it had been only a mere hour of becoming so enmeshed with something so destructive that he shuddered to think of what would've happened had more time passed. He had enjoyed it, and he would have coldly annihilated anything in his way. Goldar's eyes widened as he saw the teen's eyes darken and give him a menacing glare. " I spoke… "

Kevin interrupted with a raised hand. " Don't. ", the teen shook his head. " I do know. Not on the scale of your lifetime, but I do know. I'm the last person fit to judge. " He found in the alien general a grotesque mirror: if the Camian trusted him so much to seek redemption, he couldn't deny him a chance, as much as he'd rather let him to face the consequences of his actions. Not after he was given a shot at redemption of his own. " I'll accept your help. But the moment you do anything that even remotely resembles betrayal and going back to your former masters, I swear I'm going to end you. "

" I've no doubt of that. ", Goldar nodded his assent. He wasn't expecting anything less. He remembered his hasty oath: he would either see the Chosen's ordeal through or he would fight for his life against a Void-tainted. He caught the glance of the former Red Guardian and knew that the man had seen right through him. At the same time, Syrek offered a slight nod of acknowledgment, as if he was saying to the other warrior that he saw so far didn't mark Goldar as a threat. Yet. Kevin, however, laid back down on the slab in silence, eyes fixed upwards, and Goldar couldn't help but wonder what thoughts went through the human's head.

* * *

Jason appeared in a streak of red in the empty main chamber, his face set in a scowl. In the aftermath of every battle, he and the team would go out and meet with the survivors and the families of the deceased to offer what scant support they could. It was his duty to look over every known casualty and decide who goes in what part of town, and to organize most efficiently what became a somber tradition. He took this day even harder than usual: the rampage of the day before almost eclipsed the Green Ranger battles in terms of casualties. But this time, it was personal. It broke his heart when he finally jogged home, pretending weariness and shock, to find his parents worried and elated that they saw him come home. Even his father, a military man for whom extreme emotions came hard, had been visibly relieved. It was only when the evening news came on the TV that he understood why his mother's eyes shone with unshed tears.

The jingle of the evening news program faded into nothingness as the news anchor moved to the leading story of the day, and Jason paled when he saw the footage. He could not believe some journalists had been so reckless as to wander in the combat zone, cameras at the ready. The footage had been shaky, but not only it had shown the battle in the city, where the Rangers had been busy to fight the Slippery Shark, but there was also a clear cut showing the battle in the park. Not only did Jason see Tommy and Syrek helping Ernie take the kids to safety, but moments later the footage of his brother fighting Scorpina was shown to the entire city, if not to the entire nation. His heart stopped in his throat as he saw his brother's body burn from Scorpina's last blow before Goldar had entered the fray. The household phone had been ringing the entire evening as recognition came over the friends of the Lee Scott family. The footage had shown the body being taken by the Rangers, the end unknown, but the family had already started getting condolences.

Jason caught a streak of black materialize next to him, the energy coalescing into Zack's form. The Black Ranger offered a mirthless smile to his friend and went to stand by the side, waiting for the rest of the group to finally arrive. The two didn't have to wait long: yellow, blue and pink streaked in fast succession, revealing the corresponding Rangers. Tommy was the last in, an almost nondescript streak of gray heralding his arrival. Kimberly immediately embraced Jason into a tight hug, offering wordless support to the Red Ranger as he looked over the computer screens at the list of the deceased.

Zordon looked over his assembled team with a heavy heart. He wished he could be with them, paying respects to the innocents that lost their lives in this war. Today, at least, he had good news. " RANGERS, IT WILL GLADDEN YOU TO KNOW THAT KEVIN WOKE UP. "

Jason cracked a smile, but it was Zack that quipped his thoughts first. " Just in time for that news shit storm. "

Zordon looked at the Rangers quizzically. He had not bothered to keep in the loop of the human data spheres. " ZACKARY, PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR COMMENT. "

Billy was the one who answered instead, pulling up the screens the news footage he retrieved from a news station. " Yesterday, the journalists have taken footage of our battle. While that is not unusual, yesterday the footage also includes the park. "

Zordon sank in thought. This complicated matters somewhat. " WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS? "

Tommy crossed his arms across his chest as he decided to reply. " Your secret's safe with me. The news caught nothing out of the ordinary except me helping a security guard to get Ernie and the kids out of the park. " He shifted uneasily when he remembered shock and praise showered at him in equal measure. His parents didn't know whether they should've been angry with him for risking his life, or extremely proud that he helped Ernie out.

Billy adjusted his glasses ever so slightly. " Our biggest concern is the fact everyone saw what happened with Scorpina. Details are not out, of course, but the footage was clear. "

" We're already getting calls of condolences. ", Jason finally spoke up. " The phone's been ringing all evening yesterday. "

" JASON, ON TOP OF YOUR PLANNED DUTIES, I MUST ASK YOU TO VISIT YOUR FAMILY AS THE RED RANGER. ", Zordon said gravely, sympathizing with his Red Ranger. There was little more horrible on a family than a loved one lost in war. " REASSURE YOUR PARENTS, LET THEM KNOW THAT KEVIN IS ALIVE AND RECOVERING IN OUR CARE. HE WILL HAVE TO STAY HERE FOR A FEW DAYS. "

Jason nodded his assent, then turned to Billy and the computer screen. With a practiced movement, he filled the screens with the areas the Rangers needed to visit and started assigning each of his teammates a route. It was a thankless task, but one that needed to be done. It took only a few moments for everyone to get their assignments and the group morphed, ready to go out. There would be no cheering today. Teleportation systems triggered, the main chamber fell into uneasy silence.

* * *

Watching the tension in the room, Syrek observed the alien general shift on the cot uneasily. Over ten thousand years of habit was hard to break, and Syrek could see the effort in every nervous jitter Goldar displayed. Deciding that standing in the medical bay wouldn't do anything for either of them, he gave a tug on Goldar's tunic and motioned for the Camian to follow him outside. There were things they had to discuss, after all.

Once the doors closed behind them, Syrek wordlessly steered Goldar into one of the corridors that did the circuit of the Command Center premises. They walked in a slow pace for a minute until Syrek finally spoke: " I hope you know what you're getting into. "

Goldar filched, but was quick to compose himself. " I know exactly what I got myself into. I've no regrets about it. "

" And what if your trust is wrong? ", the former Red Ranger pressed on with the questions, voicing his own doubt as well. " What if he ends up dead or worse? "

" I vowed to either see him succeed, or deal with him if he turns to the Void. Or die trying, ", Goldar grunted. " You train him, yet you doubt him. "

" You don't leave being a Guardian without a healthy dose of paranoia. ", Syrek answered back, looking for a moment at the floor. " I don't doubt him, but I fear that something might happen to push him in the wrong direction. The Void entities are peculiar about those marked by them, and never once in all the cases I had witnessed since stepping down had there been a champion that didn't come back to the entity that marked him. The results were, of course, varied. "

The two had passed through a portal and found themselves transported to the Zord bays. Goldar's reply was delayed by the sight of the magnificent machines arrayed in their ran between them, each of them with a maintenance post and a console next to it, perpetually streaming the status of the machine berthed in front of it. He never thought he'd see the Rangers' war machines so close without actually being in battle.

" If you trust him to undergo this…", Goldar finally found his voice. " … so do I. "

Syrek decided to change topic. His protege was currently laying in medical, prematurely awake, and he didn't want to mar his elation with worries about a worst possible future. Besides, something Goldar had said the day before piqued him. " How old were you when we served? ", he asked lightly.

Goldar raised his eyebrows in surprise at the question, then smiled to himself at the memories. " I was a boy when the Silver Guardian served on Camia. I remember being there every time the team would make an appearance, wishing to one day be such a hero. "

Syrek grinned. Here were two legendary figures in their own right, but simply talking of times past somehow put them on equal footing. " I bet you would've been one. ", he offered.

" Hah. ", Goldar's voice betrayed his cynicism. " I was barely out of my teenage years by Camian reckoning when the call to battle came. We had no idea what we were fighting for. We had no idea why all of a sudden the rest of the Universe were our enemies. But we followed the Guardian unquestionably. When we were defeated, it left only bitterness behind. Many of us found the UAE to suddenly be a place where we'd be valued. How wrong we had been. "

" And so you came to serve Zedd and Rita. ", Syrek nodded, understanding how such a warrior came to be who he was today.

" By the time all of us figured how foolish we've been, we didn't know better than to serve the forces of evil. ", Goldar acknowledged. " We had been too enmeshed and too blackmailed to refuse. But we still awaited our time for redemption. "

" And you're hoping this will be it. ", Syrek's voice carried no accusations. He couldn't fault the Camian.

" Oh, I'm sure my people made some inroads while I was trapped with Rita. But this might just be a final proof, and maybe, I can redeem myself as well. ", Goldar admitted, looking again at the meshed gantry floor. " As I told the Yellow Ranger, my reasons to help are selfish. "

Syrek offered a small smile. He understood perfectly, as he had spent time between his wanderings to help his dead friend's people where he could. Small gestures could start an avalanche, and nobody knew it better than he did. " You'll do just fine. ", he finally proclaimed. Goldar suddenly had the strange sensation that the former Red Guardian had been testing him all along, and that in this moment, he had passed a hurdle he didn't know existed.

* * *

The day had come and went in surprising swiftness, much to the relief of the Rangers. Each of them had spent hours talking to families of the deceased, offering their condolences, and with the families of the survivors, making appearances at homes and the hospital, with almost no time in between spent to rest. They were confronted once again with the tears of those who lost loved ones and the traumas of those who survived. They alternated between offering comfort and asking for forgiveness for not being there soon enough to prevent the casualties. As a team they visited the headquarters of the emergency services, offering respects to the medics, the firemen and the policemen who, despite having no powers of their own, kept taking the field time and again to protect and help the citizens.

Jason was the last to return to the Command Center as night set in, tired and weary. His last stop had been his own house, and his only solace after a long day were the lifted spirits of his parents as he told them that their eldest is still alive and in good hands. He could just imagine what reaction he'll get once he got home, pretending to be a mere civilian. He met the gaze of the rest of his team and knew that the lies they told to those closest to them were all for a greater good. Before they left to get some much needed rest, the team agreed that they would let Goldar stay in the Command Center for the time being. Zordon had been informed that the alien was now under Syrek's mantle.

In the dead of night, sheltered behind the trees, a ship touched down, its hull shimmering in the moonlight as its camouflage systems disengaged. The ramp lowered with a hiss and a figure strolled down, hand resting casually on the gun that rested on his hip. He had taken pains to get here undetected, and the last he needed was to be discovered by a dweller of this backwater planet.

" Have you confirmed the rumors? ", came the voice from the edge of the trees, and the pilot turned to his interlocutor. He did not expect anything less than punctuality.

" Yes. Zedd is on his way to relieve Rita of duty. ", the pilot gave a curt nod.

" Then start the preparations. We will be ready for Lord Zedd's arrival. "


End file.
